"We have suspended all public demonstrations until further order throughout the country because of insecurity since the attack on the residence of the president by a group of soldiers," said Colonel Armando Nhaga, a spokesman for the internal administration ministry.

The attack on the residence of President Joao Bernardo Vieira on November 23 came a week after successful parliamentary elections had given fresh hope for stability in the country.

Two presidential guards died in the attack and several others were wounded.

Nhaga said Saturday that the suspected ringleader had been arrested in Gambia and authorities were seeking to extradite him -- apparently contradicting information that emerged from Senegal earlier in the week.

Senegal said Wednesday that the suspected leader, Alexandre Tchama Yala, had been arrested in Dakar on Monday.

Nhaga added that the country's former deputy director for intelligence, Alfredo Malu, had also been arrested over the attack.

Malu is believed to be close to former Guinea-Bissau president Kumba Yala, who was overthrown by the army in 2003, and supervises his personal security.

A total of eight people have been arrested, including seven soldiers, since the attack.

In the last decade, Guinea-Bissau, one of the smallest and poorest countries in Africa, has been plagued by a series of coups and attempted coups.

It has also become a major transit point for cocaine from South America en route to Europe.

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