African Troops Sent to Combat Rebels

West African states Senegal and Guinea sent troops to aid Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira, whose forces have been battling for three days to put down an attempted coup by army rebels. A Senegalese official confirmed that soldiers had arrived in the country’s capital, Bissau, to join up with forces already dispatched by neighboring Guinea. One news agency reported that Senegal sent 1,300 soldiers and armored cars. Reports of the troop movements came as rebels claimed that they were close to ending Vieira’s 18-year rule over the impoverished former Portuguese colony. Diplomats described the military situation in the capital--before the arrival of the foreign forces--as a stalemate despite rebel claims to have the upper hand.