Jailed journalist on hunger strike

Guinea-Bissau journalist Joao de Barros, who was arrested for criticizing President Kumba Yala's threats last week to attack the Gambia over coup plots in Bissau, began a hunger strike on Tuesday. The media watchdog Reporters sans frontieres, which appealed to Yala on Wednesday to release Barros, said the journalist decided to go on hunger strike to protest his detention. The Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported that De Barros would continue the strike until there was "clarification about all that is going on" in the West African country. De Barros was arrested Monday afternoon shortly after appearing on a private radio show in which he charged that Yala's recent allegations of foiled coup plots arose because of corruption in government, Lusa said. He had described as "pathetic" Yala's threat to "crush" Gambia militarily, it added. An Interior Ministry official, Baciro Dabo, told national radio that De Barros was detained both for his radio comments and for unexplained "other things", Lusa reported. The Gambian government described as “untrue and unfounded” reports by Yala that it was involved in two reported plots to overthrow the Bissau government. A strongly-worded statement from the ministry of foreign affairs said President Yahya Jammeh and his government received the reports with "consternation". Yala threatened to invade the Gambia during a meeting with foreign diplomats, civil society and NGO representatives on 11 June.