BANJUL, August 14, 2008 (AFP) - Guinea Bissau's Foreign Minister Maria da Conceicao Nobre Cabral flew to Gambia Thursday for talks with a top official after the arrest there of the alleged leader of a foiled coup in her country.

The minister would not comment on the reasons for her meeting with Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy, but diplomatic sources in Banjul said they would discuss the possible extradition of Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute.

The head of the navy was arrested by Guinea Bissau authorities on Friday after he allegedly tried to overthrow the government.

He escaped house arrest and fled the country to nearby Gambia, where he was re-arrested on Tuesday, and is being held in Banjul's Mile 2 State Central Prison.

The admiral denies any involvement in a coup attempt.

Guinea Bissau, one of the world's poorest countries, has for decades been plagued by bloody coups and uprisings.

Recently the country has become a transit point for cocaine coming from Latin America en route to lucrative European markets.

International experts say Guinea Bissau, which lists peanut exports as its biggest source of income, has in fact become a 'narco state' -- taken over and controlled by drug cartels.

There have also been reports of army involvement in the drugs trade.

'Everything points to the fact that the failed coup was linked to drugs trafficking,' a spokesman for Guinea Bissau president Joao Bernardo Vieira told Radio France International earlier this week.