Treetopflyer
18th Jul 2003, 05:49
LAGOS (AFP) Sao Tome's deposed president Fradique de Menezes was stranded in the Nigerian capital Abuja trying to rally international support after a military coup in his island nation.
De Menezes firmly denied rumours that he planned a dramatic return to power backed by Nigerian troops, but told Portuguese radio that he hoped to win concrete support from the 53-nation African Union.
The ousted leader's spokesman, Guillaume Neto, told AFP that de Menezes hoped to talk to Mozambique's President Joachim Chissano, the current AU chairman, while both men were in Abuja.
Chissano's spokesman, Antonio Montonse, said: "It's probable that the question of military intervention will come up in Abuja."
Troops seized control of the tiny west African archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday while de Menezes was in Nigeria to attend a summit of eminent Africans and African Americans.
The only minister to escape capture, Foreign Minister Mateus Meira Rita, was in Portugal, where he met Thursday with his counterparts from the eight-nation Community of Portuguese-speaking Nations (CPLP).
Both de Menezes and Meira Rita were seeking concrete support to match the international chorus of condemnation which has greeted the latest military rebellion to rock west African politics.
"We are still open to negotiations. We want to solve this through dialogue. The use of force would be a very last resort," Neto told AFP from the luxury Abuja hotel that has become de Menezes' headquarters in exile.
De Menezes has had no substantive contact with the coup leaders, he said, apart from a call to his own office to confirm it was in rebel hands.
Sao Tome has been gripped with rumours -- denied by de Menezes' camp -- that the president might return home from Abuja backed by Nigerian troops, to regain power from coup leader Major Fernando Pereira.
"Nigeria has no intention of intervening militarily," de Menezes told Portuguese public radio. "We have no military accord with Nigeria."
But the exiled leader explicitly did not rule out an AU-backed military intervention.
"In a situation where a democratically elected government is being ousted, the African Union must begin to think about preventing it as it has done in other countries," he said, in the same radio interview.
Nigeria is west Africa's military powerhouse and has close relations with Sao Tome, particularly regarding offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Guinea, where the neighbours were negotiating a joint exploration zone.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo met Menezes on Wednesday and was one of the first world leaders to issue a rebuke to the new junta.
Obasanjo warned of an "appropriate response" if Nigeria's embassy, its nationals or its business interests in Sao Tome were threatened, and said he would work with the AU to find a "concerted response" to the coup.
When Sao Tome's army officers last threw out an elected governemnt, in 1995, negotiators from Angola persuaded them to return to their barracks.
Neto told AFP that the situation remained calm in Sao Tome, and that there had been no panic or violence since Wednesday.
Portugal's Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz told reporters that his government was "working discreetely to build bridges and encourage dialogue" between the now exiled presidency and the coup's leaders.
"Today there has been no meeting with the military junta, but we will restart dialogue as soon as possible," he said.
Portugal has the only permanent foreign ambassador in Sao Tome, its former colony, although the United States' ambassador to Gabon was in the country when the coup took place and has remained on.
Both envoys have been working to secure the release from imprisonment of the remaining members of the ousted government, diplomats said.
Mozambique, Nigeria, Portugal, France, the United States and several African countries have condemned the coup and the conference of Lusophone countries, which includes Brazil and Angola, is expected to follow suit.
De Menezes firmly denied rumours that he planned a dramatic return to power backed by Nigerian troops, but told Portuguese radio that he hoped to win concrete support from the 53-nation African Union.
The ousted leader's spokesman, Guillaume Neto, told AFP that de Menezes hoped to talk to Mozambique's President Joachim Chissano, the current AU chairman, while both men were in Abuja.
Chissano's spokesman, Antonio Montonse, said: "It's probable that the question of military intervention will come up in Abuja."
Troops seized control of the tiny west African archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday while de Menezes was in Nigeria to attend a summit of eminent Africans and African Americans.
The only minister to escape capture, Foreign Minister Mateus Meira Rita, was in Portugal, where he met Thursday with his counterparts from the eight-nation Community of Portuguese-speaking Nations (CPLP).
Both de Menezes and Meira Rita were seeking concrete support to match the international chorus of condemnation which has greeted the latest military rebellion to rock west African politics.
"We are still open to negotiations. We want to solve this through dialogue. The use of force would be a very last resort," Neto told AFP from the luxury Abuja hotel that has become de Menezes' headquarters in exile.
De Menezes has had no substantive contact with the coup leaders, he said, apart from a call to his own office to confirm it was in rebel hands.
Sao Tome has been gripped with rumours -- denied by de Menezes' camp -- that the president might return home from Abuja backed by Nigerian troops, to regain power from coup leader Major Fernando Pereira.
"Nigeria has no intention of intervening militarily," de Menezes told Portuguese public radio. "We have no military accord with Nigeria."
But the exiled leader explicitly did not rule out an AU-backed military intervention.
"In a situation where a democratically elected government is being ousted, the African Union must begin to think about preventing it as it has done in other countries," he said, in the same radio interview.
Nigeria is west Africa's military powerhouse and has close relations with Sao Tome, particularly regarding offshore oil fields in the Gulf of Guinea, where the neighbours were negotiating a joint exploration zone.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo met Menezes on Wednesday and was one of the first world leaders to issue a rebuke to the new junta.
Obasanjo warned of an "appropriate response" if Nigeria's embassy, its nationals or its business interests in Sao Tome were threatened, and said he would work with the AU to find a "concerted response" to the coup.
When Sao Tome's army officers last threw out an elected governemnt, in 1995, negotiators from Angola persuaded them to return to their barracks.
Neto told AFP that the situation remained calm in Sao Tome, and that there had been no panic or violence since Wednesday.
Portugal's Foreign Minister Antonio Martins da Cruz told reporters that his government was "working discreetely to build bridges and encourage dialogue" between the now exiled presidency and the coup's leaders.
"Today there has been no meeting with the military junta, but we will restart dialogue as soon as possible," he said.
Portugal has the only permanent foreign ambassador in Sao Tome, its former colony, although the United States' ambassador to Gabon was in the country when the coup took place and has remained on.
Both envoys have been working to secure the release from imprisonment of the remaining members of the ousted government, diplomats said.
Mozambique, Nigeria, Portugal, France, the United States and several African countries have condemned the coup and the conference of Lusophone countries, which includes Brazil and Angola, is expected to follow suit.