SRSG and the President of the Republic discuss dismissal of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces

17 Sep 2014

SRSG and the President of the Republic discuss dismissal of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces

16 September 2014 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, Miguel Trovoada, today met Bissau-Guinean President, José Mario Vaz, who dismissed on Monday the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Antonio Indjai.

At the end of the meeting, SRSG Miguel Trovoada underlined that the international community supports this sovereign decision by the legitimate authorities.

"His Excellency - President José Mario Vaz - informed me that the decision he took was in line with the process of restructuring Guinea-Bissau Armed Forces and, in general, of all the defense and security sector", SRSG explained.

"We took good note of this sovereign decision taken by the legitimate authorities of Guinea-Bissau and the United Nations, and the international community, are committed to supporting the decisions taken by the legitimate authorities in the country, because it is necessary that this support be as much effective as possible", he concluded.

The presidential decree was issued on Monday and José Mário Vaz today met with the National Council of Defense. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces is pending to be appointed.

Bissau-Guinean Head of State also met over the same issue representatives of AU, ECOWAS, EU and the IMF mission presently in the country.