General to lead after coup

GUINEA-BISSAU’S President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has left the country for Senegal after being detained during a military coup, the government in Dakar said on Thursday, as a lead opponent accused him of arranging the uprising.

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The military in volatile Guinea-Bissau appointed a general as the country's new leader, a day after seizing power and derailing the announcement of election results.

Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa said he believed he won Sunday’s election and alleged Embalo — who has also claimed victory — had “organised” the power grab to prevent him from taking office.

Sandwiched between Guinea and Senegal, Guinea-Bissau has experienced four coups since independence from Portugal in 1974, as well as multiple attempted coups. Its election results are often contested.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “an unacceptable violation of democratic principles” and called for an “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order”, his spokesperson said on Thursday.

The military takeover in Guinea-Bissau is Africa’s 10th in five years, after coups in Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon and, last month, Madagascar.

Embalo arrived in Senegal on a military plane chartered by its government, the foreign ministry said.

The coup unfolded a day before authorities were due to announce provisional results of the presidential ballot and parliamentary polls.