Despite his initial, bellicose statements, Ndjai adopted a less confrontational tone later in the day, describing the events as "a purely military problem" and saying that they "do not concern the civil government". He also stressed that "military institutions remain, and will remain, submissive to political power." President Malam Bacai Sanha characterized the events in a similar fashion and said that he would seek "a friendly solution to this problem".[1]