Opposition leader released from jail

Guinea-Bissau opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira was released from jail on Friday after spending months behind bars, reports the Club of Mozambique. He was one of several senior politicians imprisoned by the military after it seized power in November, overthrowing President Umaro Sissoco Embalo just days after presidential elections. The junta claimed it had acted to prevent bloodshed between supporters of rival candidates and announced it was taking control of the west African country for a period of one year. Pereira had been barred from contesting the vote. While the coup took place before official election results were released, both his preferred candidate, Fernando Dias, and Embalo had claimed victory. The disposed President subsequently fled the country. Guinea-Bissau has experienced repeated instability since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, with only one President ever completing a full term in office. Crippling poverty, chaotic administration and political chaos have also made the country a fertile ground for corruption and drug smuggling.