Guinea-Bissau general sworn in as transition president after military coup

General Horta Nta Na Man has been sworn in as the transitional president of Guinea-Bissau, one day after army officers announced they had deposed the country’s president, staging the West African nation’s latest military coup.

“I have just been sworn in to lead the High Command,” General Horta Nta Na Man declared after taking the oath of office in a ceremony at the military’s headquarters on Thursday, AFP journalists observed.

Having served until now as the chief of staff of the country’s army, Nta Na Man is considered to have been close in recent years with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was deposed on Wednesday.

He said evidence had been “sufficient to justify the operation” adding that “necessary measures are urgent and important and require everyone’s participation”.

The African Union (AU) Commission chairperson on Thursday condemned the military coup and called for the immediate and unconditional release of Embalo and all detained officials, the AU said in a statement

Military officers, referring to themselves as “The High Military Command for the Restoration of Order”, said in a televised statement on Wednesday that they had ousted Embalo, in the latest episode of turmoil in the coup-prone country.

It came one day before provisional results had been expected to be announced in the race between Embalo and Fernando Dias, a 47-year-old political newcomer who had emerged as Embalo’s top challenger to run the West African state, which is a hub for cocaine trafficking.

On Thursday, the capital Bissau was mostly quiet, with soldiers on the streets and many residents staying indoors even after the overnight curfew lifted.

Businesses and banks were closed.

On Wednesday, a day after two leading candidates in a tightly contested presidential election each declared victory, a group of military officers claimed “total control” of the country.

The takeover announcement on Wednesday came shortly after sustained gunfire was heard near the election commission’s headquarters, the presidential palace and the Ministry of the Interior in the capital.

“I have been deposed,” Embalo later told French broadcaster France24 in a phone call on Wednesday, adding that he was “currently at the general staff headquarters”.

Reporting from neighbouring Senegal that afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reported that Embalo was under arrest.

The head of the main opposition PAIGC party, Domingos Simoes Pereira, has also been arrested, Haque said.

“As well, we’ve just heard that the military is trying to cut off the Internet. There’s a curfew in place.”

He added that the army officer leading the coup, Denis N’Canha, served as the head of the presidential guard.

“The man supposed to protect the president himself has put the president under arrest,” Haque said.

Meanwhile, West Africa’s ECOWAS and African Union observers expressed concern over the military takeover in Guinea-Bissau, according to a joint statement issued by the organisations.

“It’s regrettable that this [coup] announcement came at a time when the missions had just concluded meeting with the two leading presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to accept the will of the people,” the observers said on Wednesday.