Guinea-Bissau's National Assembly speaker Raimundo Pereira will take oath as interim head of state on Tuesday afternoon after the President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed on Monday, a parliamentary communique said.

Vieira was killed in his home early on Monday in an apparent revenge attack for the death of a key rival, armed forces chief General Batista Tagme Na Wai, throwing the tiny and unstable West African state into confusion.

In the event of a president dying in office, the speaker of parliament becomes head of state for a fixed period until elections can be held, under a constitution the armed forces have pledged to respect despite fears of a coup


Reuters

Güncelleme Tarihi: 03 Mart 2009, 19:22