LISBON, Portugal -- Renegade army troops in Guinea-Bissau stormed the presidential palace and ousted the West African country's head of state Friday in an attack that reportedly left at least 70 people dead.
President Joao Bernardo Vieira took refuge in the Portuguese Embassy after the breakaway army faction forced his 600-strong presidential guard to surrender following a daylong battle.The presidential guard had refused to disarm as called for under a peace accord intended to end a five-month civil war last year in the former Portuguese colony.
After Friday's fighting, the renegade faction, which already held most of the country, seized control of the capital -- the last government stronghold.
At least 70 people were killed in the battle for the palace, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said, quoting local reports.
Vieira first sought refuge at the French Cultural Center in Bissau but the building was surrounded by rebel troops and an angry mob, a Portuguese Defense Ministry spokesman said.
"To prevent further bloodshed, our ambassador went by car to the Cultural Center and took the president and his wife to our embassy where he is safe," the spokesman said.
The presidential palace, the French Cultural Center and the French Embassy were later in flames, according to Lusa. It was not clear how the fires started.
Portuguese state television RTP reported that the city was mostly calm in the evening with only occasional bursts of gunfire.
At the United Nations, the Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed deep dismay at the resumption of fighting and reminded government and rebel forces of their pledge in February never again to resort to arms.
Rebel spokesman Zamora Induta told Portuguese state radio Antena 1 that the insurgents would not pursue loyalist soldiers and stressed that rebel forces had escorted Vieira to the Portuguese Embassy to ensure his safety. He said the rebels wanted only to ensure new and fair elections.