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| Guinea-Bissau president 'killed'' | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Renegade soldiers have shot dead the president of Guinea-Bissau, Joao Bernardo Vieira, officials say. | |
| The news comes just hours after that of the army chief of staff, who had fallen out with Mr Vieira. | |
| Gunfire is resounding around the capital Bissau and it is unclear who is in control of the West African nation. | |
| Bissau is one of the world's poorest states. It has a history of coups and has become a major transit point for trafficking cocaine to Europe. | |
| Reports quoted military and government officials, along with residents of Bissau city, as saying the president was dead. | |
| "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," military spokesman Zamora Induta told AFP news agency. | |
| He accused Mr Vieira of being responsible for the death of the army chief of staff. | |
| Revenge | |
| Gen Tagme died after a blast late on Sunday that destroyed part of the military headquarters. | |
| An aide, Lt Col Bwam Nhamtchio, told AFP the chief of staff was in his office when Sunday's blast went off.President Vieira has ruled intermittently since 1980 | |
| "He was gravely wounded and did not survive his injuries. This is a loss for all of us," Lt Col Nhamtchio said. | |
| At least five people were reportedly killed in the explosion. | |
| Following the attack on the military HQ, officers ordered two private radio stations in the city to cease broadcasting. | |
| "For the security of the journalists, you must close the radio station and stop broadcasting. It's for your own safety," armed forces spokesman Samuel Fernandes told reporters at one station. | |
| "We are going to pursue the attackers and avenge ourselves," he added. | |
| The president and army chief are said to have been at odds for months. | |
| Renegade soldiers last November attacked the presidential palace with automatic weapons in a failed coup attempt. | |
| Plagued by coups | |
| It is not yet clear who was behind the attack on Gen Tagme, but it once again highlights the country's fragility, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says. | |
| After last November's attack, the president was subsequently given his own 400-strong militia for protection. | |
| In January, that militia was accused of trying to kill the head of the army and was then disbanded. | |
| Guinea-Bissau has been plagued by coups and political unrest since it gained independence from Portugal in 1974. | |
| President Vieira, just like the country's previous leaders, has relied on the army to stay in power, and personal rifts have made it a rocky relationship, our correspondent says. | |
| Guinea-Bissau - a major transit point for Latin American cocaine headed for Europe - has also been destabilised by the effects of drug trafficking. | |
| Some officials in the army are known to have become involved in the trade, our correspondent |