By Alberto Dabo
BISSAU, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Hundreds marched through Guinea-Bissau’s capital on Friday, protesting last month’s military coup and demanding the release of opposition leaders, as regional heads prepare to meet on Sunday to address the crisis.
Protesters clashed with security forces in Bissau, burning tires and calling for the release of Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), who was detained during the coup, according to relatives and security sources.
Army officers ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26, a day before the electoral commission was expected to announce results from legislative and presidential polls. The junta installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim leader the following day.
Leaders of the regional bloc ECOWAS will meet in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss Guinea-Bissau and consider sanctions against the West African nation, Sierra Leone’s foreign minister Timothy Musa Kabba said last week.
“We do not recognise the transitional government,” civil society activist Vigario Luis Balanta said at a press conference on Friday, urging a general strike and a week of civil disobedience. The transitional military government could not be immediately reached for comment.
On Tuesday, the junta unveiled a 12-month transitional charter prohibiting Inta-a and his prime minister from participating in future elections, announcing the roadmap two weeks after they halted the constitution.
“We are the youth and we are the future of this country,” said demonstrator Antonio Sami. “We will never, ever accept that our sovereignty be called into question.”
The coup is the ninth in West and Central Africa over five years and part of a cycle of instability in Guinea-Bissau. The country is notorious as a cocaine trafficking hub and has a long history of military interventions.
(Writing by Ayen Deng Bior;Editing by Ros Russell)
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