Sao Tome: Coup in president's absence
2003-07-16 13:20
Lisbon - The military in the tiny west African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe launched a coup early on Wednesday in the former Portuguese colony, taking advantage of the president's absence on a foreign trip.]
Citing its own correspondent in the oil-rich archipelago, the Lusa news agency said that Prime Minister Maria das Neves, Parliament president Dionisio Dias and the minister of defence had all been detained in the coup.
Speaking to Portuguese public radio, Lisbon's ambassador in Sao Tome confirmed the coup and the detentions, but said the situation was relatively calm.
"Certain key points in the city have been captured and members of the government have been detained, but the situation is relatively calm, currently there are no shots and no violence," said ambassador Mario de Jesus Santos.
"We heard sporadic shots when the detentions happened ... but we don't know of any physical confrontations," he added.
Sao Tome President Fradique Bandeira de Menezes is currently in Nigeria on a private visit, where he has been since Tuesday.
Sao Tome national radio, heard by a local witness contacted by AFP from the Gabonese capital Libreville, said the prime minister and the ministers of public works, planning, defence and finances had all been detained in a military barracks.
According to the same source, the coup's leaders called on ministers and lawmakers to assemble during the night, threatening those who failed to turn up.
Several inhabitants heard the sound of gunfire overnight and local residents were staying inside and following events on radio on Wednesday morning.
"The city is calm, but there is movement close to the military headquarters," one inhabitant said.
Lusa said the coup took place at 03:30 local time and the leaders have not released any statement indicating their intentions.
According to Portuguese public radio, the instigator of the coup was the head of the centre for military training, major Fernando Pereira, known under his codename of Cobo.
The coup on the Portuguese-speaking archipelago of 140 000 inhabitants comes at a time of heightened social tension.
In April, a Sao Tome resident was shot dead and three seriously injured after security forces moved in to suppress a rare demonstration.
The country is also wondering how it will manage the massive cash injection of over $100m in revenues it should receive next year when it auctions nine off-shore oil permits for the Gulf of Guinea.
The sum is a colossal amount for a country which in 2001 had the heaviest per capita foreign debt in the world and where the average annual income is currently $280.