Diplomat: Military Seizes Guinea-Bissau Capital Mortar rounds could be heard Thursday in the capital of the small, coup-prone nation of Guinea-Bissau as the military sealed off the city's downtown district, according to a senior diplomat who spoke from his office where he was trapped. The diplomat said the shooting started after the state radio station signal inexplicably went dead. He said that the whereabouts of the nation's interim president, who took over after the death in January of the previous leader, was unknown. "I am at the office and I am prevented from leaving," said the diplomat, who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The downtown area has been sealed off by the military ... I can also tell you that all Guinea-Bissau radio has been taken off the air since 8 p.m. local time and the whereabouts of the prime minister and interim president are unknown. It was unclear if a coup was in progress in this country. Like in previous military takeovers, the heavy firing is coming after the state broadcaster went silent. In neighboring Mali last month, renegade soldiers seized state television just after they stormed the presidential palace. They then gathered in front of the camera to announce the coup d'etat. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., whose whereabouts are unknown, was favored to win the presidential runoff election scheduled for April 29. He was to face off against ex-president Kumba Yala, but the future of the vote was uncertain because Yala recently announced that he planned to boycott the vote. The presidential election was organized in haste, after the death of former leader Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in January after being rushed to France for end-stage diabetes. Guinea-Bissau has weathered successive coups, attempted coups and a civil war since winning independence from Portugal in 1974. It has been further destabilized by a growing cocaine trade, fueled by traffickers from Latin America who discovered the nation's archipelago of uninhabited islands several years ago. They used the deserted islands to land small, twin-engine planes loaded with drugs, which are then parceled out and carried north for sale in Europe. The traffickers, according to analysts, have bought off key members of the government and the military, creating what some are now calling a narcostate.