Guinea-Bissau journalist, detained for criticizing government, freed Wed Jun 19, 2:11 PM ET (AP) LISBON, Portugal - The editor of a Guinea-Bissau newspaper who was detained two days ago after criticizing the government was freed Wednesday, news reports said. Joao de Barros, who owns Correio da Guine-Bissau, was arrested in Bissau, the capital of the west African country, and went on hunger strike to protest his detention. He had said on a radio station that government "squandering" of cash may be responsible for recent military coup attempts, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported. President Kumba Yala accused Barros of "supporting subversives who want to overthrow the government," Lusa reported. 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. Barros was arrested last year after accusing Yala of corruption. Opposition leaders in Guinea-Bissau charged last week that Yala was mentally unstable after he threatened to invade Gambia and accused it of supporting an attempted military coup against him. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~