Renegade soldiers kill Guinea-Bissau president

Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed hours after a bomb blast took the life of his rival.

Vieira  248.88 ap (photo credit: AP)
Vieira 248.88 ap
(photo credit: AP)
A senior official says renegade soldiers have killed Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira, hours after a bomb blast took the life of his rival, the armed forces chief of the fragile West African nation. Luis Sanca, security adviser to Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., confirmed the president's death but gave no details. Gunfire was heard for several hours around Guinea-Bissau's presidential palace early Monday, but the violence died down shortly after dawn. It was not immediately clear whether a coup was under way, and the capital, Bissau, was tense but calm.