DAKAR, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha held a meeting with Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior on Friday after the West African country was shocked by soldiers' action to arrest the government leader the previous day.

Gomes Junior was witnessed with a group of soldiers on his way to the presidency for an urgent meeting, a sign indicating that he was still under watch after reportedly released on Thursday, according to reports reaching here.

The situation is complicated with government ministers condemning Thursday's event at an extraordinary meeting, and soldiers detaining the chief of defense staff, General Jose Zamora Induta, and 40 other officers.

Induta's deputy Antonio Indjai replaced him as the new army chief, who said on Thursday that the army was still submissive to political powers, while threatening to kill the prime minister if protests continued against the military action.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of the office of the prime minister in the capital Bissau, protesting against "coup d'etat" after Gomes Junior was taken away from his office by soldiers to an unknown place on Thursday morning.
Although President Sanha declared later in the day that "calm" had returned, the detention sparked an outcry from the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and the United States.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday called on the military and political leadership in Guinea-Bissau to "resolve differences by peaceful means and to maintain constitutional order and ensure respect for the rule of law."

The unrest in Guinea-Bissau is the latest in a series to hit West Africa, where Mauritania, Guinea and Niger have witnessed the military coup since 2008.

The regional bloc ECOWAS was wary of another coup in Guinea- Bissau after President Joao Bernardo Vieira was assassinated on March 2, 2009. ECOWAS kept watch on the country until the holding of elections on June 28, 2009, when Sanha was elected the new president.

ECOWAS has since warned that the military reform is critical to ensure the post-assassination stability in Guinea-Bissau.
Instability including the 1998-1999 civil war has haunted the country of 1.5 million population since its independence from Portugal 35 years ago. Coup attempts have repeatedly hit the headlines in Guinea-Bissau, especially since 2008.

The West African country of 1.5 million population foiled a mutiny after holding a legislative election in November 2008, when the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde won the victory.

The Interior Ministry reported another "coup attempt" in early June 2009, just days ahead of the June 28 presidential election.

The country is among the poorest in the world, being ranked the 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Program's Human Development Index.

With a jagged Atlantic coastline, Guinea-Bissau is chosen by traffickers as a major hub for the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.