Guinea-Bissau threatens to invade Gambia following alleged coup attempt
Wed Jun 12,12:17 PM ET (Associated Press)

LISBON, Portugal - Opposition leaders in Guinea-Bissau charged Wednesday
that President Kumba Yala was mentally unstable after he threatened to
invade Gambia because the west African country allegedly supported a
military coup against him, reports said.


Yala had accused Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday of plotting the
coup, claiming Guinea-Bissau's security forces foiled the attempt last
month, the Portuguese national news agency Lusa reported.

Helder Vaz Lopes, leader of Guinea-Bissau Resistance party, called Yala's
threat to "crush" Gambia an "obsession" because it was "the second time in
24 hours he has threatened to invade Gambia," Lusa reported.

"Only the president's state of mental health could explain his attitude,"
Lusa quoted her as saying.

Francisco Benante, head of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-
Bissau and Cape Verde, also condemned the threat as "not the attitude of a
statesman," Lusa reported.

Guinea-Bissau does not have a common border with Gambia. Any invasion would
require troops to traverse 100 kilometers (60 miles) of neighboring Senegal.

Officials of the governments of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau were not available
for comment.

The events have further undermined stability in the impoverished former
Portuguese colony of about 1.1 million people, which is struggling to
recover from a devastating 1998 rebellion.

Opposition politicians and international human rights groups have denounced
the government for alleged heavy-handed treatment of opponents, including
arrests of senior judges and journalists

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