The junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau consolidated its power with the appointment of a Prime Minister on Friday, following the investiture the day before of a general as president for a transition intended to last one year, while in Bissau, normal life has resumed.

In neighboring Senegal, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko judged that this military coup just before the results of the presidential and legislative elections of November 23 was a "scheme" aimed at stopping the electoral process in this small West African country, a suspicion shared by several experts.

On Thursday, the coup leaders appointed General Horta N'Tam, until now chief of staff of the army, to lead a High Military Command for the restoration of order (HCM) and a political transition.

"The President of the Transitional Republic, Major General Horta N'Tam, has appointed Mr. Ilidio Vieira Té as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance by presidential decree," according to a decree published on Friday.

Mr. Té is the last finance minister of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who was ousted in Wednesday's coup. He will hold the dual roles of head of government and finance minister.

In Bissau, the capital, on the main thoroughfare leading from the port to the presidential palace, car and taxi traffic, including near the palace, resumed Friday morning, as did pedestrian traffic going about their business, AFP journalists observed.

Security measures and the presence of the military have been reduced in the capital, AFP journalists have observed.

The main market in Bissau was bustling with people again.

"I resumed my activities because if I stay at home, I won't have enough to eat. But things aren't working at the moment. Since this morning, I've been going around the city but I haven't sold anything yet," Boubacar Embalo, a 25-year-old street vendor, holding a small lawnmower, told AFP.

On Thursday, the High Council of State (HCS) lifted the nighttime curfew imposed the previous day, a further sign of relative stability despite the coup, following the announcement that same day of the reopening of "all borders, closed since Wednesday afternoon." It also ordered the "immediate reopening" of schools, markets, and private institutions.

- "Let's say who won" -

The ousted president, Mr. Embalo, arrested between Wednesday and Thursday, took refuge in Senegal where he arrived "safe and sound" Thursday evening aboard a plane chartered by Dakar, the Senegalese government said in a statement, whose head spoke frankly on the subject Friday.

"What happened in Guinea-Bissau, everyone knows it was a sham. Let's continue the electoral process and let the (electoral) commission say who won" the elections held on Sunday, he said, during a question period with the government in the National Assembly, without further details.

He also spoke out in favor of "the release of those arrested, especially Domingos (Simoes) Pereira who wasn't even a candidate".

Mr. Pereira is presented by the local press as a close associate of Mr. Sonko. The main opposition leader in Guinea-Bissau and head of the powerful PAIGC, the historic party that led Guinea-Bissau to independence, he was barred from the presidential election of November 23 by the courts for late filing of his application.

In this election, he supported an opposition candidate, Fernando Dias, who told AFP on Thursday that he had won the presidential election and accused Mr. Embalo of having "organized" the coup to prevent him from coming to power.

Dakar is part of a "restricted mediation committee" set up by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to work in particular on "restoring constitutional order" in Guinea-Bissau, according to the statement from the Senegalese government.

Guinea-Bissau, a Portuguese-speaking coastal country in West Africa located between Senegal and Guinea (Conakry), had already experienced four coups and a host of attempted coups since its independence from Portugal in 1974. The proclamation of election results there has often given rise to disputes.

Instability and poverty have facilitated the establishment of drug traffickers who use this territory as a transit zone for cocaine between Latin America and Europe.

Military officials from this West African country have often been cited in this trafficking in recent years.