Guinea-Bissau's ousted president Kumba Yalla has denied that he briefly occupied the presidential palace in the West African nation.
Mr. Yalla insisted again Thursday that he is still the rightful head of state, but denied that he entered government buildings this week.
Guinea-Bissau's interim President Henrique Rosa had accused Mr. Yalla of staging an attempted coup by occupying the presidential palace early Wednesday. State media said he entered the palace with a small group of loyal military officers but left several hours later when the palace was surrounded by guards and angry protesters.
Mr. Yalla, who was elected in 2000 and ousted in a bloodless coup in 2003, maintains the state media report was an effort to discredit him and exclude him from the June 17 presidential ballot.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
