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Slain Guinea-Bissau Military Chief Given State Funeral


Guinea-Bissau's slain military chief General Batistia Tagme Na Waie has been laid to rest in a state funeral.

The funeral took place Sunday at the municipal cemetery in the capital, Bissau, after being postponed for a day.

The general was killed a week ago by a bomb blast in the capital. Within hours, soldiers killed the country's president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, in an apparent revenge attack.

A state funeral for President Vieira is scheduled to take place Tuesday.

Parliamentary speaker Raimundo Perreira is serving as Guinea-Bissau's interim president while authorities try to organize new elections.

Reports this week from Bissau say Zamora Induta, the current coordinator of the country's military committee, is the leading candidate to replace General Na Waie.

Guinea-Bissau has a long history of coups and unrest since winning independence from Portugal in 1974.

However, the military has said it is not attempting a coup, and that Mr. Vieira's killers acted independently.

The United States has welcomed what it calls a successful transition of power in Guinea-Bissau following the president's assassination.

Guinea-Bissau's constitution calls for new elections to be held within 60 days after a president dies while in office.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.



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