GUINEA-BISSAU: Soldiers ousted the President of the tiny coup-prone West African nation of Guinea-Bissau yesterday, accusing him of violating the constitution of the impoverished former Portuguese colony.
Army chief-of-staff Gen Verissimo Correia Seabra declared himself interim president after the bloodless dawn putsch, the latest in a series of uprisings to hit President Kumba Yalla's administration.
Troops with automatic weapons patrolled the capital Bissau yesterday, but Gen Correia Seabra said no shots were fired during the coup.
He said a civilian would head an interim government, and that President Yalla could either go into exile or stay.
Guinea-Bissau, about the size of Taiwan, is one of the world's poorest nations with a population of 1.3 million.