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Deposed president travels to Gambia

Guinea Bissau’s deposed president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, arrived in The Gambia on Sunday, a senior official in the Gambian Foreign Ministry told IRIN. “He is not feeling well and we are trying to arrange treatment,” the Gambian official said on Monday. The source did not know how long Vieira would stay in the Gambia but felt he would be there “for some time”. Portugal offered Vieira asylum soon after he was toppled by a military junta in early May, and he stayed in the Portuguese Embassy in Guinea Bissau up to his departure for Gambia. The decision to allow him to leave the country was taken at a meeting attended by General Ansumane Mane, head of the Military Junta, President Malam Bacai Sanha, Prime Minister Francisco Fadul and other political leaders, according to news organisations. Vieira was allowed to leave Guinea Bissau to seek treatment abroad, they reported. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Verisimo Siabra Correia was sworn in on Saturday as Guinea Bissau’s new armed forces chief of staff, according to AFP.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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