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Guinea-Bissau candidate shot dead | Guinea-Bissau candidate shot dead |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The security forces in Guinea-Bissau have shot dead a minister and candidate in this month's presidential elections, along with three other people. | |
The authorities say Baciro Dabo died in an exchange of fire when he resisted arrest over an alleged coup plot. | The authorities say Baciro Dabo died in an exchange of fire when he resisted arrest over an alleged coup plot. |
Mr Dabo's supporters say he was asleep with his wife when men in uniform burst into his house and repeatedly shot him. | |
The 28 June election was called after President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed by soldiers in March. | The 28 June election was called after President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed by soldiers in March. |
The BBC's Will Ross says that election may now be postponed. | |
He says the army looks set to continue to play a destabilising role in a country which has been plagued by coups since independence in 1975. | |
In recent years, it has also become a key transit point for trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe. | |
Prosecution fears? | |
Former Defence Minister Helder Proenca and two of his bodyguards were also killed in the shoot-out over the alleged coup plot, said a statement from the interior ministry. | |
Baciro Dabo was a close ally of former President Vieira (above) | |
The statement said several other politicians - all members of the ruling PAIGC party, like Mr Dabo - were detained. | |
Journalist Jean Gomis told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Mr Dabo, the minister of territorial administration, was a close ally of former President Vieira. | Journalist Jean Gomis told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Mr Dabo, the minister of territorial administration, was a close ally of former President Vieira. |
He says that high-ranking members of the military may have feared that Mr Dabo could prosecute those responsible for killing the president if he won the elections. | He says that high-ranking members of the military may have feared that Mr Dabo could prosecute those responsible for killing the president if he won the elections. |
Mr Dabo was a senior member of the PAIGC but was contesting the election as an independent. | |
He was one of 13 presidential candidates. | He was one of 13 presidential candidates. |
Mr Vieira was hacked to death with machetes on 2 March by soldiers who blamed him for a bomb which had killed the army chief of staff hours earlier. | Mr Vieira was hacked to death with machetes on 2 March by soldiers who blamed him for a bomb which had killed the army chief of staff hours earlier. |
No-one has been prosecuted over the killing. | No-one has been prosecuted over the killing. |