JOHANNESBURG - An author who writes about the small nation of Eritrea says soldiers took control of the country's Ministry of Information and read a statement on air saying the 1997 constitution would be applied.
Léonard Vincent, author of the book "The Eritreans" and co-founder of a Paris-based Eritrean radio station, says more than 100 soldiers took control of the ministry Monday morning.
Vincent said that the daughter of Eritrea's president is among ministry officials being controlled by the soldiers. Vincent stopped short of calling it a coup d'etat and said it's not yet clear if the action is a well-organized coup attempt or what he called a "kamikaze crash."
Vincent said his information came from a ministry source and information gathered by Eritrean journalists working at the radio station he co-founded.
