Most of Guinea-Bissau Army Rejects Former Junta Leader
The small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau was calm Friday after a day of shooting during which the bulk of the army sided with civilian President Koumba Yala in a dispute with former military junta leader Brig. Ansumane Mane.
But there was confusion in the former Portuguese colony over the whereabouts of Mane, who had challenged Yala’s authority by proclaiming himself armed forces chief of staff after a disagreement over promotions.
Air force commander Manuel Mina said Mane, who abandoned positions at an air base outside Bissau, the impoverished country’s capital, on Thursday, had been arrested.
“They are not going to kill Ansumane Mane,” Mina told Portugal’s RDP radio. He did not say where the former military chief was being held.
However, Portuguese television quoted official sources in Bissau as saying Mane had taken refuge in a Roman Catholic mission at Quinhamel, about 20 miles north of here.
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