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Guinea Bissau President Tries To Calm Tension After Opposition Leader Shot
by Tidiane Sy
BISSAU (AFP) - Guinea Bissau President Kumba Yala stressed Friday his sadness at the killing of opposition leader General Ansumane Mane, meeting with Muslim leaders in a bid to calm ethnic tensions running high in the tiny west African country.
Former junta leader Mane, a Muslim, was shot dead by loyalist soldiers late Thursday in Quinhamel, north of the capital, eight days after he led mutinous soldiers in a rebellion against Yala after proclaiming himself army head.
Thousands of Muslims followed Mane's body to a cemetery in Ghala, a western suburb of Bissau, late Friday. No government officials were present.
"It is sad for us, he was a great figure with whom we fought for our country," Yala said earlier.
His comments are being seen as a bid to calm ethnic and political tensions that have been seething in Guinea Bissau for several months now and peaked with the shooting of Mane.
The death of the ex-junta leader has provoked strong feelings in the country's Muslim community and Yala Friday summoned more than 100 Muslim dignitaries to his palace in a bid to reassure them.
Mane, who ousted former president Joao Bernardo Vieira in 1998, ran a junta from May 1999 until this February, and co-presided with Yala a transitional government, was a Muslim from the Mandigue ethnic group.
Muslims here saw him as their only defender in a power system that has often kept them on the sidelines.
Islam is the largest minority religion in Guinea Bissau, accounting for 38% of the population. Fifty-three percent of the population are animists.
Yala told the dignitaries that Mane's tragic end had nothing to do with his religious group and was not about trying to keep one ethnic group in power.
Analysts say many here have feared for several months now that political life was becoming increasingly run on ethnic lines.
At the beginning of November, the former ruling PAIGC party denounced the rule of the Balantee ethnic group, to which Yala, who came to power after elections in January, belongs.
The Balantees had, before Yala, been long kept out of political power, but now they have control of the army as well as the presidency.
Yala told the dignitaries that Mane's killing was a "purely military" business.
He was heavily critical of "certain political leaders who are sowing confusion amid the people," claiming "opportunistically" that the rebellion had tribal and religious connotations.
"We are one people, with kinship links that overrule ethnic groups and religions," he added.
The government has said the uprising was a coup attempt and has accused opposition parties of being behind it.
Several high-ranking opposition leaders, including PAIGC president Francisco Benante are among 181 people who were arrested last week.
Yala stressed that Mane's rebellion began when he proclaimed himself army chief in defiance of the president.
Mane "began his rebellion the moment he proclaimed himself supreme chief of the army, a post that according to the constitution belongs to the head of state."
Mane last week announced that he was taking over the army because he did not agree with military promotions made by the president. Two days later - Wednesday and Thursday - he led mutinous soldiers in a rebellion against Yala.
Yala told Muslim leaders Friday that dialogue was necessary to get the country out of the current crisis.
He said he was committed to promoting democratic values within the framework of the law.
Prayers were then said, following the Muslim tradition, for peace in the country.
Meanwhile, the national assembly here called on the government to release political prisoners detained after the uprising.
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