UNITED NATIONS, Nov 21 (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Tuesday warned
the self-proclaimed army chief of the West African state of Guinea Bissau it
would hold him responsible if the country fell into chaos.
   In a statement, the council said it "disapproved of the action taken by
General Ansumane Mane", who announced on Monday that he was taking over as
head of the army without the consent of President Kumba Yala, a civilian.
   Mane led a military junta which ousted the former president, Joao
Bernardo
Vieira on May 7 last year, before handing the country back to civilian rule
after elections in November.
   "Council members will hold General Mane responsible if (his action) will
lead to further unrest and chaos," the statement said.
   In a radio broadcast, Mane said he had decided to take over the army
because he was displeased with military appointments made last week by Yala.
   He also claimed he had been the object of an attempt to "physically
eliminate" him.
   Describing himself as "supreme commander of the military junta," he
appealed for calm, saying the affair was "purely military".
   In Bissau on Tuesday, Defense Minister Fernando Correia Landim said in a
statement that the takeover was "anti-democratic" and that the authorities
would seek to assure that the law was respected.
   But opposition groups criticised what they called the government's
mistakes
and said Mane's decision was likely to "stabilise the situation" in the
army.
   Mane's relations with Yala have appeared strained in recent weeks, and he
has been saying he wants more responsibility in the running of the country.
   In its statement, the council appealed to Mane "to start dialogue with
the
government on the basis of constitutional order."
   The statement was read to reporters by the Dutch ambassador to the United
Nations, Peter van Walsum, who holds the presidency of the council this
month.
   It expressed concern "that the renewed political unrest is harmful to the
consolidation of peace and the commitment of donors to support the
reconstruction of Guinea Bissau."
   Only last month, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned the council that
the government of Guinea Bissau faced serious economic difficulty, largely
because of the need to pay the salaries of almost 26,000 soldiers.
   In a report to the council on October 4, Annan said "the former military
junta still seems reluctant to give up the role it played during the
transitional period" that followed the bloody coup against Vieira.
   The council called on the former junta "to fully subordinate to the
constitutional authorities and to translate into reality their promise to
withdraw from the political process."
   One of the smallest countries in Africa, covering 36,260 square
kilometres
(13,945 square miles) between Senegal to the north and Guinea to the east
and
south, Guinea Bissau is one of the poorest on earth.
   It ranks 169th out of 174 countries on the UN's human development index,
with life expectancy at birth below 45 years, an adult literacy rate of 36.7
percent, and per capita GDP of 616 dollars in 1998.
   rh/ch

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------