Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – Senegalese authorities, under the “personal leadership” of President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, successfully evacuated deposed Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and repatriated him to Dakar on Thursday evening, following a rapid deterioration of the security situation in Bissau. The operation was confirmed by the Senegalese Ministry of African Integration in a statement.
The emergency exfiltration operation comes just days after the November 26 military coup in Guinea-Bissau, during which President Embaló was arrested by the military, who later swore in Major General Horta N’Tam as the transitional president.
Regional Leaders Volunteer as France Steps Back
With France distancing itself from Embaló for months, Congo President Denis Sassou N’Guesso activated a chain of African contacts. Sources say he consulted Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara about hosting the ousted leader temporarily in Abidjan before transferring him to a country willing to grant him asylum.
However, a statement from Dakar stated that a Senegalese government-chartered aircraft was dispatched to Bissau to facilitate the extraction of President Embaló. The same flight was used to repatriate several political and diplomatic officials, as well as members of election observation missions who were caught up in the violence.
Behind the scenes, Embaló spent a tense night urgently appealing to multiple African leaders for evacuation, according to Confidentiel Afrique.
The Race to Get Embaló Out
Equipped with two mobile phones, Embaló warned of the dangers of remaining in Bissau amid what he described as ethnic fractures within the army, blaming “the Balantes” for the uprising during a call placed to Jeune Afrique as soldiers stormed the palace.
While Senegal was his preferred destination, President Faye was reportedly unreachable for several hours despite repeated attempts from Congolese President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, who emerged as one of the most responsive leaders to Embaló’s pleas.
Sassou N’Guesso ultimately reached Mary Teuw Niane, chief of staff to the Senegalese president, to relay the urgency of the situation.
The successful operation is the culmination of frantic regional diplomacy that saw Senegal emerge as the pivotal hub. Earlier reports confirmed that in the first hours of his detention, Embaló managed to contact several African leaders, including President Faye, appealing for an urgent evacuation.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting in an extraordinary virtual summit, strongly condemned the attempted coup.
Senegal played an active role in this meeting, calling for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and the release of all those arrested. ECOWAS leaders have since decided to establish a small mediation committee to travel to Bissau soon.
Senegal Secures Embaló, But at a Strategic Cost
For Senegal, the fall of President Embaló represents a significant geopolitical setback. Dakar had long viewed Embaló as a reliable regional ally, alongside President Adama Barrow in The Gambia, whose cooperation was crucial in efforts to dismantle MFDC rebel sanctuaries and stabilize Senegal’s volatile Casamance region.
Embaló’s removal leaves Senegal increasingly isolated as a civilian-led democracy in a neighborhood now largely dominated by military juntas, with only The Gambia and Mauritania remaining under constitutional rule among its five neighbors.
Behind the scenes, the push to get Embaló out was coordinated through both ECOWAS-led negotiations and bilateral diplomatic channels, including urgent appeals to African leaders like Congo’s President Denis Sassou N’Guesso and Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara.
President Ouattara, according to sources, even dispatched a special aircraft to Bissau to extract Embaló, creating an alternate corridor that ultimately converged on the deposed leader’s preferred destination: Dakar.
With the safe arrival of President Embaló in Dakar, Senegal has reaffirmed its willingness to work with ECOWAS, the African Union, and international partners to support dialogue and the rapid restoration of constitutional order in its neighboring country.
