Guinea-Bissau chief survives coup attempt by soldiers

MUTINOUS soldiers fought their way into the fortified residence of Guinea-Bissau’s president yesterday, launching a three-hour gunbattle with his guards, as the leader and his family hid elsewhere in the building, a top official said.

The soldiers attacked President Joao Bernardo Vieira’s home shortly after midnight, killing at least one of his guards and injuring several others before security forces were able to push them back, Interior Minister Cipriano Cassama said.

The attackers did not reach the room where Vieira was hiding and neither he nor his wife was hurt, Cassama said.