BISSAU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has resumed his duty after being briefly arrested by mutineers earlier in the week, local media reported on Saturday.

The soldiers who entered the office of the prime minister and detained him on Thursday left the building the next day.

Gomes Junior then went to meet with President Malam Bacai Sanha, who expressed trust in him and asked him to remain on the post, according to local press and radio.

The resumption of Gomes Junior's work as the prime minister was reportedly the most important topic in the talks.

Reports also said the former chief of defense staff, General Jose Zamora Induta, was still confined to the air base near the capital Bissau.

Induta and 40 other officers were also arrested in Thursday's mutiny, in which deputy army chief Antonio Indjai replaced him.

Despite the rebellious move which was denounced by many as a coup, Indjai on the same day declared the army was still submissive to political powers.

The detention went parallel with the release of the former head of marines, the rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, who had been accused of plotting a coup in August 2008.

The ex-chief of Guinea-Bissau's marines took refuge at the UN office in Guinea-Bissau known as UNOGBIS after returning to Guinea-Bissau in a canoe from Gambia on Dec. 28, 2009. UNOGBIS had previously indicated willingness to settle the issue in a "peaceful and legal" way.

Na Tchute and Indjai are seen as the men behind the action by soldiers on Thursday.

Although President Sanha had declared that "calm" had returned in his country, the incident has already sparked an outcry from across the globe.

In a statement condemning the latest upheaval in Guinea-Bissau, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the coup attempt came at a time when the successful presidential election in July 2009 had created the required environment for ECOWAS and the international community to strengthen the democratic and national reconciliation process.

ECOWAS had been keeping watch on the country until the holding of elections on June 28, 2009, when Sanha was elected the new president. It has since warned that the military reform is critical to ensure the post-assassination stability in Guinea-Bissau.

"ECOWAS ... will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to defend the democratic gains and maintain stability in the country," it said in the statement.

The regional bloc also urged the African Union and the United Nations to scale up joint efforts to stabilize the political, security and economic situation in the country.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the military and political leadership in Guinea-Bissau to resolve their differences by peaceful means and "to avoid any risks to the gains" made by the country in its current peace consolidation efforts.

The UN Security Council also urged all parties concerned to avoid acts of violence and respect the rule of law in the West African country.

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.

Instability including the 1998-1999 civil war has haunted the country of 1.5 million people since its independence from Portugal in 1974.

Before the latest coup bid, the West African country had 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.

Coup fears were on the rise after President Joao Bernardo Vieira was assassinated in March, 2009. The country's Interior Ministry reported another "coup attempt" in early June 2009, just days ahead of the June 28 presidential election.

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

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.