BISSAU, Nov 23 (AFP) - Scores of thousands of civilians on Thursday fled
Guinea-Bissau's capital, fearing battle between rival troops backing
President
Kumba Yala and ex-junta leader General Ansumane Mane after morning
skirmishes.
   More than half the population of Bissau left by car or on foot, before
and
after gunfire in the streets in the early hours of the morning, when at
least
one person was wounded, an AFP correspondent and other witnesses said.
   Rival military units were seen moving into positions less than 200 metres
(yards) apart, on the road to the airport, where opposing sides faced off
two
years ago during a rebellion by Mane which led to the ouster of a previous
head of state.
   Several sources said most government members took refuge at the UN
offices
in Bissau, where Mane has proclaimed himself "supreme commander" of a
revived
junta, some nine months after handing over to the elected Yala in February.
   Street battles between rival military units using automatic weapons and
rocket-propelled grenades took place in several districts between 5:30 am
(0530 GMT) and 8:00 am, witnesses told AFP.
   An AFP reporter saw one injured person but no other casualties. No
details
of the fighting or a possible toll have been released.
   "It seems like armed gangs are chasing each other across town," a
diplomat
told AFP in Dakar by telephone earlier, when gunfire could be heard in the
streets.
   Mane, the general who has long effectively been in charge of most of the
army and ran a junta from May 1999 until February this year, on Monday
defied
Yala over military promotions made last week and declared them null and
void.
   Official sources said loyalist forces were Thursday being commanded by
Colonel Verissimo Seabra Correia, whom Mane had "sacked" on Monday and
placed
under house arrest, along with two or three other top officers.
   Correia was believed to have evaded his guards overnight, according to
some
reports.
   National radio on Thursday broadcast a statement saying that the navy and
army troops at Bissau's Amura fortress and garrisons in the north and south
of
the country were loyal to the president and under Correia's command.
   Yala himself was said to be among those who had taken refuge at the
offices
of the United Nations, but this could not be confirmed. The president has
made
no public announcement since Mane declared himself army chief on Monday.
   Between 60,000 and 70,000 people, more than half the population of the
west
African tropical city, fled to Salim, 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the
north
of Bissau, according to estimates by an AFP correspondent and other sources.
   After ousting president Joao Bernardo Vieira in May 1999 after an
11-month
standoff, Mane headed a junta until he stepped aside, following elections,
and
handed power to Yala and his Party of Social Renewal (PRS).
   Some witnesses said that Mane's soldiers tried late Wednesday to disarm
the
presidential guard, while Yala was attending a meeting at the offices of the
United Nations.
    The UN Security Council had on Tuesday warned Mane that it would hold
him
responsible if his actions "lead to further unrest and chaos", in the
country
of some one million people.
   Mane said in a public statement Wednesday that he had no intention of
"intervening in matters of civilian authority" but was taking action to
"restore serenity in the ranks of the military".
   aye/at/nb/kc
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