Bissau

Automatic gunfire and the crump of heavier explosions rang out in Guinea-Bissau’s capital Bissau early on Monday, a Reuters witness said.

Guinea-Bissau’s newly appointed Prime Minister on Tuesday declared that national reconciliation will be his main aim in office. ”Our society is divided to the point of having been rendered fragile. For this reason, our first order of business is the reunification of all Guinea-Bissauans,” said Martinho N’Dafa Cabi.

With its red-tiled roof and pink facade holed by rockets and bullets, Guinea-Bissau’s ruined presidential palace is a monument to the fratricidal conflict that has kept this tiny West African state crushed by poverty. The palace, built under Portuguese colonial rule, was attacked and looted during a 1998-1999 civil war which killed more than 2 000 people.

Tight security cloaked coup-prone Guinea Bissau on Monday as top officials held crisis talks to digest a claim from ousted president Kumba Yala that he remains head of the West African state. A pro-peace rally that aimed to discredit Yala’s statements was held and dispersed without incident in central Bissau.