Coup plot foiled, seven held

Accra, Nov 6 -- SERVING and retired military personnel had been arrested for plotting a coup, a highly-placed source in the president's office said today.

"A number of military personnel have been arrested for plotting to overthrow the government of President John Kufuor," said the official. A total of seven people were said to have been detained.

The source said: "The Ghanaian government has been aware of the plot to overthrow it, all the time."

Officials said the alleged coup plotters' plans involved acts of "destabilisation and sabotage" in the run-up to December's presidential poll.

Ghana has suffered a number of coups since independence in 1957, but in recent times has been stable.

The capital Accra was calm today with no roadblocks or large military presence.

Mr Kufuor, who is seeking re-election in a presidential poll due to be held on December 7, was reported to be in Accra

He is current president of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and was due to attend a crisis meeting in Nigeria devoted to events in Ivory Coast.

He was represented by the country's foreign minister. No reason for his absence was immediately given.

On Friday Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio told a radio station that Kufuor was "campaigning" and said that his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade, who wanted to discuss developments in Ivory Coast, had been unable to reach him.

Several senior African Union (AU) figures attended the meeting at a farm in southwest Nigeria owned by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, current president of the AU, to discuss Ivory Coast.

The AU condemned the raids by Ivorian warplanes on rebel positions in the north of the country, accusing the government of breaking peace agreements.

In a statement issued after the meeting Obasanjo "expressed his deep concern in the face of a resumption of hostilities, in particular the bombing by government forces of rebel sites in the north of Ivory Coast."