Just in case you think the odds are slim that two government figures would be assassinated within a 48 hour period not just once, but twice, think again. And not only that, in the same country no less. In a ghoulish re-run of events in March, the interim Army Chief (replacing the one killed in a bomb) announced that two men linked to assassinated President Vieira were killed yesterday.

“The military confirmed the killings of former Defense Minister Helder Proenca and presidential candidate Baciro Dabo, saying the men were killed because they were plotting a coup against the current government.”

The murders occurred a day before campaigning was set to begin for Presidential elections scheduled later this month. Happily, Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., interim President Raimundo Pereira (replacing the one killed in a hail of bullets) and defense minister Artur Da Silva are all out of the country at the moment. Perhaps they should consider extending their travels. Being doomed to endlessly traverse a traffic circle in London sounds infinitely more appealing than being caught in the vicious cycle of slayings back home.

Shout out to SNS, who alerted me to yesterday’s events.