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A group of army officers in Guinea-Bissau is reported to have detained the chief of staff and the prime minister.
After several hours, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior was freed after hundreds of people gathered in front of his office, calling for his release. The whereabouts of President Malam Bacai Sanha are unknown but a BBC correspondent says his office is quiet.
The situation is extremely unclear and telephone lines are not working. The country has had several previous coups.
Guinea-Bissau has also become a major centre for trafficking cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
National radio interrupted its programmes to play military music, which correspondent say is code for a coup.
Heavily armed troops attempted to gain access to the UN headquarters, where a former head of the navy had fled.
Former President Nino Viera was killed in March 2009 by a group of soldiers just hours after the army chief of staff was blown up by a bomb.
President Sanha won elections held three months later.
BBC
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