Map of Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau’s ruling junta said it has released six members of the political opposition who had been detained since a coup last month.
The six people freed were close associates of Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the PAIGC party that led the country to independence in 1974. Pereira has been in custody since the coup.
High Military Command, the Junta’s governing body, in a statement seen by AFP said, “The releases are a sign of good faith and a compromise for the return to constitutional normality and respect for international rights.”
The army seized power on November 26 after ousting outgoing president Umaro Sissoco Embalo in the wake of a presidential vote.
The military then suspended the electoral process and announced it was taking control of the west African country for a period of one year.
Another opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, took refuge in Nigeria’s embassy, which granted him asylum, while Embalo fled the country after being briefly detained by the military at the time of the coup.
On Sunday, Senegal’s foreign minister led a delegation to Guinea-Bissau, where he met with detained opponents and requested their release.
AFP
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