Coup in Guinea-Bissau?

Reports are emerging that a coup has been launched in Guinea-Bissau. First the army chief, General Tagme Na Waie, was killed in a bomb attack at Army Headquarters on Sunday. A Guinea-Bissau military spokesman is reported to have told the Agence France-Presse that the army held the president responsible.

Around 10 am GMT Monday it was announced that renegade soldiers had shot dead Joao Bernardo Vieire, the president of Guinea-Bissau, as he fled his home early this morning.

In the capital, Bissau, there is apparently a battle underway for control, with reports of gunfire across the city.

Guinea-Bissau has a long history of military coups, with the last, unsuccessful, attempt in November 2008. Joao Bernado Vieire, one of Guinea-Bissau's anti-colonial leaders, was president from 1980 to 1999, and again from 2005 until his death today. Relations with both the army and navy had been tense since last November's attempted coup.