BISSAU, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Former Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau Aristides Gomes is authorized to leave the country for medical treatment, Guinea-Bissau's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Communities said Thursday.

The Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed the news in a press release, saying that "citizen Aristides Gomes is authorized to leave the country because of his state of health."

According to the release, the decision to grant permission to the former prime minister to leave the country results from an agreement with the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS).

The former prime minister has taken refuge on the premises of UNIOGBIS for 10 months, because he feared for his safety after receiving threats from the army the day after President Umaro Sissoco Embalo took office.

Rosine Sori-Coulibaly, representative of the UN secretary-general in Guinea-Bissau, called Gomes' situation "worrying."

The country's foreign ministry also said in the release that "the intervention of President Embalo facilitated the negotiations which led to the authorization of the former Prime Minister to leave the country for medical care." Enditem

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