Guinea-Bissau's President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira survived an attack by renegade soldiers on his home early on Sunday, one week after parliamentary elections were held in the poor, volatile West African state, according to Reuters. The machine-gun and rocket-propelled grenade attack against Vieira's residence betrayed persisting political and military tensions in the former Portuguese colony, which has suffered a string of coups and uprisings since independence in 1974. Foreign donors say the small cashew nut-exporting nation urgently needs political stability to be able to resist the threat of powerful Latin American cocaine cartels which have been using its territory to smuggle tonnes of drugs to Europe. "There was a military attack on the president's residence," Shola Omoregie, the U.N. Secretary-General's representative in Guinea-Bissau, told Reuters. "The president and his family are OK," he added, after visiting Vieira at his damaged home. "The situation is very serious," Omoregie added. Interior Minister Cipriano Cassama said one presidential bodyguard was killed in the assault and another wounded. Armed troops sealed off the presidential residence on Sunday, but the rest of the dilapidated seaside capital was otherwise quiet. Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Batista Tagme Na Wai said the attackers were soldiers. "Five have been arrested and the situation is under control," he told reporters.
