President accused of fake coup 

TT

Published 12.07

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló when he voted on Sunday. The picture has been distributed by his press staff. Photo: Guinea-Bissau Presidential Office Via AP/TT

Military commanders claim to have seized power in Guinea-Bissau. But according to the political opposition, it is the president who has staged the whole thing to avoid losing this weekend's election.

Both President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and opposition leader Fernando Dias have declared victory in the presidential election. But on Wednesday, gunfire was heard at the presidential palace in Bissau, after which military coup plotters announced that the election was invalid and that they would rule the country.

The president was said to have been arrested, which he himself also said in a short telephone conversation with France 24.

“Umaro lost the election and instead of accepting the result, he fabricated a coup d’état,” said opposition leader Dias on Thursday, urging his countrymen to resist.

As recently as October, the military said it had stopped a military coup attempt in the notoriously unstable country.