GUINEA-BISSAU’s former president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, has travelled to the Republic of Congo, the AFP and Associated Press news agencies are reporting, days after he was deposed in a military coup.
Califa Soares Cassama, Embalo’s chief of staff, confirmed to AP that the former president was in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville.
Unnamed Congolese government sources also told AFP that Embalo was in Brazzaville.
Embalo had initially sought refuge in neighbouring Senegal after a group of military officers on Wednesday announced that they had taken “full control” of Guinea-Bissau ahead of the release of provisional presidential election results.
The true motives for the coup remain unclear, with speculation and conspiracy theories circulating, including that it was carried out with Embalo’s blessing.
The coup has sparked a wave of international condemnation, with regional leaders and the United Nations calling on Guinea-Bissau’s new military leaders to restore constitutional order and allow the electoral process to complete its work.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko condemned the events as a “sham” in remarks to lawmakers on Friday.
“We want the electoral process to continue,” Sonko said. “The [electoral] commission must be able to declare the winner.”
Many of Guinea-Bissau’s new military leaders are close to Embalo, including General Horta Inta-A, who was named as the transitional president earlier this week, and Ilidio Vieira Te, who was appointed prime minister.
Te had previously served as finance minister in Embalo’s government.
On Saturday, Inta-a appointed a 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the deposed president.
Separately, the country’s main opposition party, PAIGC, said in a statement that its headquarters had been “illegally invaded by heavily armed militia groups” in the capital, Bissau.
The party denounced the raid on Saturday as “an attack on stability, democracy and the rule of law” in Guinea-Bissau.
PAIGC had been barred from presenting a presidential candidate in last Sunday’s election, a move that drew criticism from civil rights groups who denounced an apparent crackdown on the opposition.
Both Embalo and his main challenger, Fernando Dias, had declared victory ahead of the release of the provisional vote results, which had been set for Thursday.
No results have been announced since the coup.