Guinea-Bissau president resigns The president of Guinea-Bissau, who was ousted in a bloodless coup on Sunday, has resigned from his position. President Kumba Yala, signed papers renouncing power at a ceremony witnessed by a number of visiting West African foreign ministers. In a recorded resignation speech broadcast over state media, Mr Yala said he was resigning "in the name of national unity, and in the interest of resolving our problems peacefully". Mr Yala, who has been under house arrest since the army overthrew him, had repeatedly postponed fresh elections after he dissolved parliament last year. We were in a country with no constitution, no judiciary, no parliament - a crazy country General Seabre Army Chief of Staff The military junta, led by General Verissimo Correira Seabra, says that a transitional government will be formed after consultations with civic groups and the military. Bissau Archbishop Jose Camnatne is leading a committee to propose the structure of the transitional government, which is expected to be announced by Thursday. Civilian government pledged Coup leaders finally broadcast Mr Yala's resignation speech over state media hours after it was recorded. Looking sad and serious, he called for the "immediate formation of a civil transitional government of national unity". A statement issued by the visiting delegation - including ministers from Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria, Gambia and Cape Verde - said coup leaders had pledged the transitional government would be exclusively civilian. The statement called for a "civilian of high repute" to lead the government and for the transition period to be of "reasonable duration", AFP news agency reported. At the end of it "credible, free and fair legislative and presidential elections would be conducted." Guinea-Bissau's streets quickly returned to normal after the coup and there are now few soldiers visible. 'Crazy country' Speaking to reporters, General Seabra reiterated that the army had no intention of remaining in power. "We are in an unusual situation: we were in a country with no constitution, no judiciary, no parliament - a crazy country in other words," he said. "We simply corrected the situation." He also appealed for understanding, saying this was not a coup d'etat "but the putting right of a confused, intolerable situation". Several African countries, as well as the United Nations, African Union and former colonial power Portugal, had condemned the coup and called for the president's reinstatement. But the army refused to give ground and there was said to be relief among many ordinary people that President Kumba Yala had been removed. He was often criticised for his erratic leadership and civil servants had gone unpaid for nine months. The coup came at dawn on Sunday, following an announcement on Saturday that the president would have to cancel elections again. What do you think about this situation? Was President Kumba Yala right to step down? Should regional leaders have acted before the coup, rather than just condemning it afterwards? Send us your thoughts. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3113572.stm Published: 2003/09/18 03:04:10 GMT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~