Guinea-Bissau's government and army said troops had foiled a coup attempt Monday in the impoverished west African country and arrested the leaders of the renegade troops.

The army said it had detained the navy chief -- Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, who has been accused of previous coup plans and involvement in the drugs trade -- accusing him of being the attack's "mastermind".

Guinea-Bissau's history, since independence from Portugal in 1974, has been studded with coups, army mutinies and political murders. It has also become a drug-trafficking hub, mostly for cocaine from South America to Europe.

Army chief of staff General Antonio Indjai said loyal troops had defeated the early-morning assault on army headquarters, which came while President Malam Bacai Sanha was in France for medical treatment.

There were no immediate reports of bloodshed, and Indjai and other officials made no mention of casualties.

"A small group of soldiers" had tried to "topple the top brass of the army and the government" but failed, Indjai said. "The situation is under the control of the army and the government."

Bubo Na Tchuto was "considered the mastermind of this uprising," army spokesman Captain Samuel Fernandes said by telephone.

Also arrested was former army chief General Watna Na Lai, he said.

An AFP journalist later saw Na Lai with a head wound in the capital's Simao Mendes hospital -- the country's largest -- where, according to military and hospital sources, he had been taken after his arrest.

Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior, after meeting lawmakers, confirmed the coup attempt, saying: "I do not know whether politicians were involved in the attempted coup. Investigations will tell us."

Government spokeswoman Adiatou Djalo Nandigna said soldiers had attacked armed forces headquarters and stolen weapons, adding that "many have been arrested, including most of the leaders of the attempted coup".

A military source told AFP that Bubo Na Tchuto was being taken to Mansoa, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of the capital, where a military garrison is located.

Military sources told AFP that navy forces were among the attackers Monday.

Bubo Na Tchuto is a former ally of Indjai, but observers and local media say the two men have fallen out.

In 2008, he was accused of planning a coup against then president Joao Bernardo Vieira, who was killed the following year. In May 2010, a military court cleared Bubo Na Tchuto, who was soon after named navy chief of staff.

Military sources said the renegade troops overran the army compound at 0630 GMT on Monday, firing shots into the air for close to half an hour.

Fully armed men then fanned out across the capital, erecting roadblocks around the headquarters of the army general staff and in the avenue leading to the home of Gomes.

Troops from different units could be seen, armed with machine-guns, Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-launchers.

Gomes briefly took refuge at the Angolan embassy, after soldiers paid him a short visit at his house, located opposite the embassy, according to two close aides and a non-Angolan diplomat.

The military action took place in the absence of President Sanha, who is currently seeking medical care in France.

The presidency earlier this month denied rumours that the 64-year-old Sanha, who has spent most of his term in and out of the troubled country for health reasons, had died in a Paris hospital.

The president, who was elected in 2009 after his predecessor was assassinated, was admitted to a hospital in neighbouring Senegal last month before being transferred to the French Val de Grace hospital.

Earlier Monday, sources among the mutinous soldiers dismissed any suggestion that a coup was being staged.

A soldier presenting himself as one of the leaders of the deployed forces said they were out to demand a pay rise, claiming: "This is a purely military problem. We have no intention of attacking the state."

Soldiers attack Bissau army HQ over pay
Bissau (AFP) Dec 26, 2011 - Soldiers demanding better pay attacked the headquarters of the armed forces in Guinea-Bissau on Monday and fanned out across the streets of the small west African state's capital.

There were no immediate reports of any bloodshed and sources among the mutinous soldiers were quick to dismiss any suggestion of a coup in the absence of the troubled country's president, who is undergoing treatment in France.

"We were caught off guard this morning by armed men who attacked the joint command as well as two other military units inside the headquarters," General Antonio Indjai told reporters.

"These men were attempting to get hold of weapons we had stored in the gun shop," he said without elaborating further.

Two military officials speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said a number of navy officers were involved in the incident.

General Indjai was inside the headquarters compound in the central district of Bissau Velho when the renegade soldiers attacked but spoke to journalists from a military base in Bissalanca near the airport.

A soldier presenting himself as one of the leaders of the deployed forces told AFP on condition of anonymity that they were out to demand a pay rise.

"This is a purely military problem. We have no intention of attacking the state," the soldier said.

According to him, the government in November granted a pay increase to the army "to enable us to have a good Christmas," but this money went only to a handful of soldiers.

According to military sources, the military headquarters were attacked at 0630 GMT on Monday by soldiers who overran the compound by firing shots in the air for close to half an hour.

Fully armed men then fanned out across the capital, erecting roadblocks around the headquarters of the general staff and in the avenue leading to the home of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior.

Troops from different units could be seen, armed with machine-guns, Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-launchers.

Gomes briefly took refuge at the embassy of Angola, which has a small military mission in Guinea-Bissau, after soldiers paid him a visit at his house, located opposite the embassy, according to two aides and a non-Angolan diplomat.

"This is not a coup attempt. There's no panic here in Bissau," where Monday is a public holiday, the diplomat said.

No Angolan diplomats could be reached for comment and no explanation was available for the soldiers' visit to the prime minister's residence, to which he returned at midday, according to a member of his family.

Indjai, who was brought to the army's top job by mutinous soldiers last year, is a key player in the unstable former Portuguese colony and told AFP at the time that Gomes was a criminal who should be brought to justice.

The military action took place in the absence of President Malam Bacai Sanha, who is currently seeking medical care in France.

The presidency earlier this month denied rumours that the 64-year-old Sanha, who has spent most of his term in and out of the troubled country for health reasons, had died in a Paris hospital.

The president, who was elected in 2009 after his predecessor was assassinated, was admitted to a hospital in neighbouring Senegal last month before being transferred to the Val de Grace hospital, which frequently takes in ailing leaders of French allies.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau's history has been studded with coups, army mutinies and political murders. It has also become a drug-trafficking hub, mostly for cocaine to Europe.