Sawt Falasteen - Guinea-Bissau capital inches back to normal after coup

The takeover came just one day before authorities had been due to announce the provisional results of Sunday's presidential and parliamentary polls.

The true motives for the putsch -- the fifth the west African country has suffered in 45 years -- remains unclear.

The military installed General Horta N'Tam, the army's chief of staff, as the country's new leader on Thursday for a transitional period of one year.

On Friday, N'Tam appointed current Finance Minister Ilidio Vieira Te as prime minister. He retains the finance portfolio.

Outgoing President President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, to whom N'Tam was close, was arrested on Wednesday but allowed on Thursday to leave for Senegal on a military place chartered by the government in Dakar.

On Friday, vehicles and pedestrians were back on the main road from the port of Bissau to the presidential palace in the centre of the capital, AFP journalists saw.

Security was eased in some areas but remained in place at key locations.

Traders and shoppers were back at the city's main markets, while shops, restaurants and small grocery outlets had also reopened.

"I resumed my work because if I stay home, I will have nothing to eat," said Boubacar Embalo, a 25-year-old street vendor.

"But thing's aren't going too well for the moment. I have made rounds of the city since morning but have not managed to sell anything," he added.

- Drug smuggling networks -

Surrounding areas of Bissau were more deserted, with few people at the reopened markets, AFP journalists said.

The west African country's land, air and sea borders -- all sealed off on Wednesday -- have reportedly been reopened.

The military rulers lifted their nationwide and ordered markets, schools and private institutions to reopen.

Sandwiched between Senegal and Guinea, Guinea-Bissau had already undergone four coups and a host of attempted takeovers since its independence from Portugal in 1974.

Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa told AFP on Thursday he believed he had won Sunday's election.

He alleged that Embalo, who has also claimed victory, had "organised" the power grab to prevent him from taking office.

Certain analysts say a high-level battle to control illegal drug smuggling networks may have also played a part in the country's instability.

Crippling poverty and chaotic administration have made Guinea-Bissau a fertile ground for Latin American drug lords smuggling cocaine to Europe.

Both senior military and political figures are suspected of implication in the illicit Class-A drugs trade.

Senegalese President Ousmane Sonko said on Friday the coup was a stitch-up.

"Everyone knows that what happened in Guinea-Bissau was a scam. We should continue with the electoral process and let the (electoral) commission announce who won," he told parliament in Dakar, without elaborating.

Guinea-Bissau's last presidential election in November 2019 was followed by a political crisis, with two rivals claiming to be head of state.

That only ended in April 2020 when the west African regional bloc, ECOWAS, recognised Embalo as the winner.

N.Awad--SF-PST