Coup: State bodies dissolved

2003-07-16 19:07

Lisbon - A junta that seized power in Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday announced the dissolution of all state bodies, Portuguese television reported, citing state television in the small west African island state.

"All the sovereign organs of the country are dissolved," the new "junta of national salvation" said in a communique, adding that no one was killed or injured in the pre-dawn putsch in the former Portuguese colony.

"Their former title-holders are under the tutelage of the junta and their full physical integrity is assured," said the statement, which was read on behalf of the junta by a journalist flanked by soldiers, Portugal's Lusa news agency said.

Shortly after launching their putsch, the coup-makers arrested Prime Minister Maria das Neves de Sousa, parliamentary speaker Dioniso Dias, Defense Minister Fernando Daqua and Natural Resources Minister Rafael Branco, whose brief includes overseeing development of the archipelago's oil reserves.

Some studies suggest the islands, which have been mired in abject poverty since independence from Portugal in 1975, sit on as much as four billion barrels of crude.

The tiny nation stands to earn more than $108m next year as the result of selling off nine off-shore oil permits in the Gulf of Guinea.

Transition period

"The military junta of national salvation will announce in the coming hours the organs and entities that will lead the destiny of the country during the transition period," the statement said.

The junta said the pre-dawn coup was "the reflection ... of the difficult economic and social conditions the country is going through" and of "the political instability installed by the ousted regime".

Sao Tome is heavily dependent on foreign aid and had seen three government purges since President Fradique de Menezes was elected two years ago.

The junta vowed to respect democratic principles and "seek dialogue with all active forces in the nation and all those who have the well-being of the Sao Tomean people at heart".

It urged the international community not to intervene in the crisis, Lusa said.

"Let the people of Sao Tome and her glorious sons internally resolve the challenges they currently face," the statement said. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA