The man appointed interim president of Guinea-Bissau by the side beaten in the December presidential election has stepped down because of death threats, less than two days after being nominated. "Given the death threats against me and my bodyguards, I have decided to give up the role of interim president for which I was nominated, to avoid a bloodbath in Guinea-Bissau," said Cipriano Cassama.

"I fear for my physical integrity," he said in a press statement, less than 48 hours after he was appointed by the country's historic ruling party, the PAIGC. "My life and that of my family is in danger. I have no security," he said, adding that soldiers had come for his bodyguards on Friday. But he said he would stay on as leader of the National Assembly. The PAIGC has dominated political life since the former Portuguese colony won independence in 1974, and on Friday 54 of its deputies, out of the 102 parliamentary seats, appointed Cassama interim president.