Sao Tome president pleads for help

The president was in Nigeria at the time of the coup

The president of the tiny West African island state of Sao Tome and Principe has called for international help to end a bloodless coup by army rebels.

Soldiers seized key sites and government ministers in a dawn attack on the capital while President Fradique de Menezes was in neighbouring Nigeria.

The rebels said they acted to end poverty, although analysts say it is no coincidence that the country is expecting a financial windfall from offshore oilfields.

Mr Menezes called for help from "all democrats, world leaders and African leaders" to end the coup.

"Africa cannot attain greatness with bad governance, corruption and coups d'etat," he said from the Nigerian capital Abuja.

"We must toe the path of democracy, good governance, transparency and civil liberty".

Heart attack

Gunshots, exploding rockets and grenades were heard in the capital, Sao Tome, at around 0300 GMT on Wednesday and sporadic firing continued throughout the morning but there were no indications of casualties.

Rebels took control of government buildings, state TV and radio, the central bank and the airport.

OIL-FUELLED FUTURE Sao Tome has one of the world's highest foreign debts Oil production expected to start in 2006-7 The auctioning of oil permits in 2004 is due to net $100 million Sao Tome will receive 40% and Nigeria 60% of eventual oil revenue Oil key to Sao Tome

They also seized key members of the government including Prime Minister Maria das Neves and Natural Resources Minister Rafael Branco, who handles the oil portfolio.

The prime minister was apparently hospitalised after suffering a mild heart attack during a gunfight at her home, according to sources quoted by French news agency AFP.

But coup leader Major Fernando Pereira said all the detained received medical care and were being well looked after.

"They all have liberty of action, they are in permanent contact with their families. This is unheard of," he told private television SIC Noticias in a telephone interview.

One of the detainees told AFP via mobile phone: "We are in an air-conditioned room. In the morning the soldiers served us breakfast and at noon the families could bring meals."

Get rich quick

Sao Tome is one of the world's poorest countries, and the average annual income of its 170,000 population is a mere $280.

But the country has recently been shaken by a political wrangle, sparked in part by potentially billions of barrels of crude oil lying off its coast.

Sao Tome residents hope oil wealth will transform their lives

Anti-government protests flared in April as people demanded better living standards, and the army has also complained of low pay and poor living conditions in recent months.

The army rebels said they had acted in response to the "continuing social and economic decline of the country".

But some analysts say the potential oil riches may have spurred the coup.

"Many people are expecting to get rich quickly," Gerhard Seibert of Lisbon's Institute of Scientific Tropical Investigations told Reuters.

"When I was there this month, there were obvious demands from all levels of society and this included the military".

Nigeria, the regional superpower, along with other African states and Portugal, the former colonial power, have condemned the coup.

The United States also said it "deplored" the rebels' actions and called for the immediate release of the ministers.

If the US determines a coup has taken place, it must by law suspend the several hundred thousands of dollars worth of aid it gives to Sao Tome each year.

"We're still waiting for all the facts to make whatever implications and legal determinations that are necessary," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.