France, Nov. 27 -- A group of army officers said they had seized "total control" of the coup-prone west African country, arresting its president, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after Sunday's contested general elections.

General Denis N'Canha, head of the presidential military office, told journalists that a command "composed of all branches of the armed forces" was assuming control of the country "until further notice".

President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who had been favoured to win re-election in last Sunday's polls, was arrested and held at general staff headquarters where he was being "well treated", a military source told French news agency AFP.

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