UN condemns Guinea-Bissau assassinations

A soldier stands outside a collapsed section of Guinea-Bissau's military headquarters where a bomb killed armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie. Photo / AP

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council has condemned the assassinations of Guinea-Bissau's president and the head of the country's armed forces "in the strongest terms" and urged the impoverished West African nation to remain calm and abide by the constitution.

"The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to support the efforts of the government and people of Guinea-Bissau to consolidate democratic institutions, peace and stability in that country," the 15-member council said in a statement read at a formal meeting by its current president, Libya's acting UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi.

The military has blamed an "isolated group" of soldiers for Monday's assassination of President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, who had ruled Guinea-Bissau for 22 of the past 29 years. The military categorically denied the assassination was retribution for Sunday's killing of Vieira's longtime rival, armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie, by a bomb hidden inside his office.

On Tuesday, the head of Parliament, Raimundo Pereira, was sworn in as the country's new president. The constitution calls for elections to be organised within two months.

The former Portuguese colony has suffered multiple coups and attempted coups since Vieira first took power in a 1980 coup. The United Nations, which has had a small peacebuilding mission in Guinea-Bissau since 1999, says the tiny nation on the Atlantic coast of Africa has become a key transit point for cocaine smuggled from Latin America to Europe.

The Security Council welcomed statements by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the African Union, the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States and others in the international community condemning the assassinations.

It called on all of them "to assist in preserving the constitutional order in Guinea-Bissau and to continue to support peace building efforts in the country."

The Security Council also called on Guinea-Bissau's government to bring those responsible for the murders to justice.

Council members called on "the government, the political leaders, the armed forces and people of Guinea-Bissau to remain calm, exercise restraint, maintain stability and constitutional order and respect the rule of law and the democratic process."

They also urged all parties "to resolve their disputes through political and peaceful means within the framework of its democratic institutions and opposes any attempt to change the government through unconstitutional means."

-AP