Troops in Guinea-Bissau arrested the lawyer of an ex-government official accused of a failed coup attempt against the country's former president, a military source said Tuesday.
Considered one of the country's most powerful lawyers, Pedro Infanda was "plucked" Monday from his office, the source said.
He reportedly continued to be held on Tuesday, with the army remaining mum about the reasons for his arrest that came three weeks after the assassinations of the country's president and military chief.
Infanda defended former navy head Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, who sought refuge in Gambia last August after being accused of mounting a failed coup against president Bernardo Joao Vieira.
Military sources say his name also figures in an inquiry into the assassination of army chief General Batista Tagme Na Waie earlier this month.
Waie's killing by a bomb blast led to a revenge attack in which Vieira was slain.
One army officer told AFP Infanda's arrest could be linked to his February call for a demonstration in favor of Na Tchute's extradition from Gambia, so he could deny the accusations against him before Bissau-Guinean judges.
This impoverished west African country has been wracked by coups and political unrest since its 1974 independence.
In recent years Guinea-Bissau has also become a notorious transit point for the cocaine trade between South America and Europe.
