World

Guinea Bissau Presidential Candidate Shot Dead

by SHIVAPRASAD | June 5, 2009 at 04:52 am

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According to a latest BBC report, Baciro Dabo, a Presidential Candidate for Guinea Bissau was shot dead by security forces when he resisted arrest for his alleged role in coup plot. The election is slated for 28th June this year. According to the BBC report, the election may be postponed due to this development.

I am pasting the BBC report as it is for further details.

The security forces in Guinea-Bissau have shot dead at least four people, including two senior politicians they accused of plotting a coup.

Baciro Dabo, a minister and candidate in this month's presidential elections, was killed at his home.

The authorities say he resisted arrest but his allies said he was asleep with his wife when he was shot.

Former Defence Minister Helder Proenca and two of his guards were also killed in the unstable West African country.

There are unconfirmed reports that former Prime Minister Faustino Fudut Imbali was also killed. His wife says he was taken away by the military, which accuses him of being involved in the alleged coup plot.

Among the authors of this coup some came quietly while others tried to resist, that is why they were killed
State intelligence agency

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, Guinea-Bissau has also become a key transit point for trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe.