Troops seize power in oil rush

[stevedeshazer]

Rory Carroll in Johannesburg
Thursday July 17, 2003
The Guardian

Soldiers in the tiny west African nation of Sao Tome and Principe seized
power yesterday in a pre-dawn coup which appears to be linked to a
scramble for oil revenue.

The elected government was overthrown in minutes when troops occupied
key installations and arrested senior officials. The sound of gunfire
resounded across the city of Sao Tome, but there were no reports of
casualties apart from the prime minister, Maria das Neves, who was taken
under guard to hospital with heart problems.

Comprised of two islands in the Gulf of Guinea, the former Portugese colony
is one of the world's smallest and poorest countries, with a population of
140,000 relying on fishing, cocoa, bananas and aid.

But Sao Tome is being compared to Kuwait because billions of barrels of oil
which are said to lie offshore will soon be tapped, fuelling tension over how
to share it.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,999624,00.html

[renegade000]

1. posers...

our right-wing did it first...unfortunately :-(