Guinea Bissau coup attempt linked to drug trafficking
A soldier carries a rocket launcher during the state funeral of slain Guinea-Bissau president Joao Bernardo Vieira in a cemetery in Bissau on March 10, 2009. Sustained gunfire was heard on Tuesday near the seat of government in Bissau.
The military in Guinea-Bissau has been sanctioned in the past for aiding trafficking.
In August, the US State Department announced a reward offer of up to $5 million for information that could lead to the arrest and or conviction of Guinea-Bissau national Antonio Indjai, a former head of the country’s armed forces.
The president’s speech did not cite whether senior military chiefs had a role in the coup attempt, but he suggested the fight against drugs was causing jitters.
Officials in Guinea Bissau have linked the “failed” coup attempt on Monday to an escalation of the campaign against drug trafficking.
Moments after government forces retained control, President Umaro Sissoco Embaló said “isolated elements” opposed to government reshuffles and seeking control of trafficking channels may have tried to oust him.
