afrol News, 18 February - São Tomé and Príncipe government has charged 38 people for allegedly trying to topple President Fradique de Menezes last Thursday, government has confirmed today.

Last Friday, justice ministry spokesman Justino Veiga announced the arrest of a group of men after the foiled coup and the confiscation of more than 310 assault rifles in the home of one of the opposition party leaders.

Reports said all alleged coup leaders were presented on Monday and Tuesday in court, with the judge ordering that 27 of them, including opposition Christian Democratic Front (FDC) Arlecio Costa, who was among those arrested last week to be held in custody. The 11 others were released under the oversight of the court.

In January 2008, the Gulf of Guinea archipelago accused an elite "Ninja" police unit backed by the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP) of being behind a foiled coup bid in April 2007.

The two islands off the central African Atlantic coast have seen several bouts of unrest in the security forces, including a failed 2003 coup also linked to the Buffalos.

São Tomé and Príncipe, an Atlantic archipelago of 140,000 people used to be extremely poor, relying mainly on fishing and subsistence farming, until it became the Gulf of Guinea's latest potential oil rich nation.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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