Guinea-Bissau prime minister arrested

Soldiers have arrested the prime minister of Guinea-Bissau, a military spokesman said Friday, hours after the leader's home was attacked with grenades in what former colonial ruler Portugal described as a military coup.     

The attacks that rocked the capital of this tiny country known for cocaine trafficking late Thursday came just two weeks before Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. was to take part in a presidential runoff election as the frontrunner.     

Military press attache Francelino Cunha told The Associated Press that Gomes had been detained by the military. The whereabouts of the country's interim president remained unknown.     

The Portuguese Foreign Ministry said it "urges the masterminds of the military coup to respect the well-being of the Guinean democratic authorities and free those who have been detained."     

However, a communique from an unidentified military commander that was released Friday claims the soldiers don't want to seize power, but instead were trying to halt an invasion from Angolan troops.     

Prime Minister Gomes had been favored to win the April 29 runoff after his challenger Kumba Yala, a former president who was overthrown in a 2003 coup, said he would boycott the vote because of irregularities in the first round of balloting.     

AP