President Joao Bernardo Vieira

Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha named former naval commander Jose Zamora Induta as the new head of the west African country's armed forces on Tuesday. "You have the onerous task of turning our military into a republican entity that is modern, disciplined, obedient and submissive to political power," Sanha told Induta during his swearing-in ceremony. Sanha urged the new army chief to "put an end to division and exclusion" throughout the military and "create a climate of peace and national harmony." Sanha became president on September 8 after his predecessor Joao Bernardo Vieira was tortured and murdered by soldiers in March. Vieira's death was ... Read Full Story

The crew of a Spanish fishing trawler detained two weeks ago in Guinea-Bissau for allegedly fishing too close to the west African nation are "losing patience" with their situation, its captain says. "We are losing patience. Of course we are not well," the master of the Sierra de Huelva, Manuel Ribero Escudero, told the newspaper El Mundo in an interview published on Saturday. "We have been fishing in this area for years and we have always had good relations with the authorities," he said. The boat is one of three Spanish trawlers seized by Guinea-Bissau and accused of fishing illegally in its waters. Spanish ... Read Full Story

The small west African country of Guinea-Bissau plans to crack down on foreign fishing boats that use its waters illegally because they are so rich in fish, the fisheries minister said on Friday. "We're going to step up our checks by using our national navy," Carlos Mussa Balde said in a telephone interview after the seizure in recent weeks of two vessels from South Korea as well as many from neighbouring Senegal. "Every vessel seized in our waters for illicit activity will have its haul confiscated and we will apply a severe fine on the boats' owners without half measures," Balde said. The owners ... Read Full Story

Guinea-Bissau has put its troops on alert in the north of the country along the frontier with Senegal following a border dispute with Dakar, a military source told AFP Wednesday. "The reason for this renewed tension is the allocation by the Senegalese authorities of plots of land along the coast between the Senegalese town in Cabrouse (in the southern Casamance region) and Tcheda, a village in Guinea-Bissau," a Bissau army officer told AFP. Bissau claims the land, which could potentially be developed for tourism, as an integral part of its territory. "This is an area that is located two kilometres from the border marker ... Read Full Story

Six Senegalese soldiers have been killed in an attack apparently carried out by former rebels from the separatist Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces, military officials said Saturday. "Yesterday (Friday) ... a Senegalese army patrol returning to its base was attacked by armed elements supposedly belonging to the MFDC. There were six dead, four wounded and two missing," the source told AFP. The attack, one of the most deadly in recent years, took place near the village of Sare Boya, three kilometres (two miles) from the border with Guinea-Bissau, in the southern Casamance region about 120 kilometres (70 miles) east of the regional capital Ziguinchor, ... Read Full Story