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Vieira’s next destination unknown

    ABIDJAN

    The ousted Guinea Bissau president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, has three choices for his next destination after leaving the country on Sunday, a diplomatic source in Senegal told IRIN.

    “Either he will remain in The Gambia, or he will travel directly to Portugal or he will go to France for medical treatment,” the source said on Tuesday. These options were being discussed “at a very high level”, the source added.

    Vieira was initially granted political asylum by Portugal after seeking refuge in its embassy in Bissau, in May. The Gambia also granted him asylum on Monday for medical reasons.

    Gambian Secretary of State for External Affairs Sedat Jobe, who mediated Vieira’s safe passage from the Portuguese Embassy in Guinea Bissau, had said Vieira would return home to face trial after medical care, according to Reuters. The proviso that Vieira return for trial was a condition the Military Junta had set for him to seek medical treatment outside Guinea Bissau.

    The Junta has been under international pressure to allow Vieira to seek exile in a country of his choice, a call echoed by West African foreign ministers at a meeting in Togo on 24 May, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said in a statement on Monday.

    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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