Two E. Guinea 'coup suspects' arrested in C. Africa

BANGUI,

Two men suspected of being involved in a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea have been arrested in Bangui, the Central African Republic government said Wednesday.

CAR justice minister Flavien Mbata told AFP that "investigations continue" following the detention last week of Feissal Mandjo and Issaka Ousmane, who Malabo say were part of a plot it foiled.

Mandjo is suspected of having been in contact with Ahmed Yalo, believed by Malabo to be the mastermind of the operation.

He is the brother of Sani Yalo, an ally of CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera.

The CAR judiciary is also probing an alleged suspicious money transfer from an account in France to the Central African Air Traffic Bureau (BARC) in Bangui, whose Board of Directors chairman is Sani Yalo.

The investigation is being conducted alongside Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea as part of the judicial cooperation of member countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

More than 70 people, including 16 CAR nationals, were arrested across the region, according to a judicial source.

In early January, Malabo announced that it had foiled a "coup d'etat" following the arrest of some 30 foreign armed men from Chad, CAR and Sudan on the borders between Guinea, Cameroon and Gabon.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, 75, has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron fist since 1979, making him the world's longest-serving president.

The country is awash with oil but mired in poverty and a reputation for corruption.