Ex-Junta Leader in Guinea-Bissau Slain, Report Says
Former military junta chief Brig. Ansumane Mane, who tried to lead an uprising against the elected Guinea-Bissau government, has been shot dead, Portuguese state television RTP reported Thursday.
RTP showed footage of the body of the former army chief, who defied the government of the tiny West African nation by declaring himself head of the armed forces Nov. 20.
He was shot in the neck during a clash with loyalist troops near the town of Quinhamel, 20 miles north of Bissau, capital of the former Portuguese colony, the report said.
No further details of the circumstances of his death were immediately available.
Mane had escaped from the capital with a few followers a week ago after his attempt at a military revolt was thwarted when the bulk of Guinea-Bissau’s armed forces sided with the government in a dispute over promotions.
Since then, troops had scoured the impoverished Atlantic seaboard state looking for Mane, who led a coup last year that ousted then-President Brig. Gen. Joao Bernardo Vieira.
The government of President Koumba Yala has rounded up a number of officials from opposition parties, accusing them of conspiring with Mane.
The military junta in effect ran Guinea-Bissau after Vieira’s overthrow, until Yala took office in February.
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