02 FEV 99 - 14:09

Guinea-Bissau: Portugal, CPLP Urge Return to Peace Plan

Lisbon, Feb. 2 (Lusa) - Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres Monday urged Guinea-Bissau's warring sides "to put a rapid end" to combats and return to "the path of pacification." The executive-secretary of the Lisbon-headquartered Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), Marcolino Moco of Angola, issued a similar appeal and said he would soon go to Bissau.

Moco said he was ready "to participate in any and every effort to bring peace and national rehabilitation" to Guinea-Bissau. The CPLP played a key role in early attempts last year to bring the hostile sides to the negotiating table.

02 FEV 99 - 14:01

Guinea-Bissau: Combats in Capital Continue for Third Day

Bissau, Feb. 2 (Lusa) - Loyalist and rebel forces continued trading automatic weapons and artillery fire in and around the capital of Guinea-Bissau Tuesday for a third day, but the intensity of shelling died down at mid-morning.

The prime minister-designate of the country's yet to be installed "national unity" government, Francisco Fadul, charged over national radio and in comments to Lusa that a French warship had aided loyalist forces in bombarding rebel positions.

He urged Portugal, the former colonial power, to intervene against the alleged French action.

French Ambassador Francois Chapellet denied the accusation, saying the French vessel, the Siroco, had arrived off Bissau Monday transporting a 300-strong West African peacekeeping contingent from Niger and Benin.

The Portuguese, French and Swedish embassies in Bissau have jointly tried unsuccessfully to arrange a cease-fire since fighting erupted early Sunday, only hours after the hostile sides announced they had reached agreement on mechanisms to implement their Nov. 2 peace accord.

02 FEV 99 - 13:59

Guinea-Bissau: Portugal Seeks French Help for Ship Stranded with Refugees

Lisbon, Feb. 2 (Lusa) - Portugal asked France Tuesday to aid a stranded Portuguese cargo ship which ran aground outside Bissau harbor with some 200 people fleeing fighting in the Guinea-Bissau capital, a government official told Lusa.

An undetermined number of Portuguese nationals were aboard the stricken vessel, the official said.

A French warship arrived outside Bissau Monday, carrying a contingent of West African peacekeepers.

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