Guinea-Bissau's biggest party charges president with military control

Guinea-Bissau's biggest political party has demanded President Joao Bernardo Vieira "explain" what it charges as his imposition of a "state of siege" and military control across the country.

According to reports reaching here from Bissau, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), in a communique issued late Monday and addressed to members of parliament, accused Vieira of having carried out a "palace coup" in dismissing Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jnior on October 28 and replacing him with PAIGC dissident Aristides Gomes.

The communiqu said that outgoing members of the PAIGC cabinet had been barred entry into their former ministries and military patrols around Bissau were keeping them from traveling outside the capital, the party charged.

It said "the Standing Committee of the PAIGC's Political Bureau requests an explanation from the President of the Republic for this situation that represents a de facto state of siege."

Gomes Jr.'s personal security escort had been withdrawn " without any justification" at the weekend, the party said, adding that it held the president responsible for their leader's safety.

It called on its supporters and the international community to be alert to "these strange and dangerous movements" by military and security forces that risked plunging the country into "another grave political-military conflict."

Source: Xinhua