Guinea-Bissau president Vieira assassinated

Guinea-Bissau soldiers killed President Joao Bernardo Vieira early Monday in the hours after a bomb attack which claimed the life of the West African country's military chief, an army spokesman said.

Weeks of tensions between the president's followers and the military leadership erupted into clashes in the capital yesterday.

"President Vieira was killed by the army as he tried to flee his house which was being attacked by a group of soldiers close to the head of the chief of staff Tagme Na Waie, early this morning," the military spokesman, Zamora Induta, said.

Induta added that the president was "one of the main people responsible for the death of Tagme."

A bomb attack on the military headquarters killed General Tagme Na Waie, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Bissau on Sunday.

Rocket explosions and automatic weapon fire were heard in the capital early today.