MOSCOW, 17 Sep. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at an emergency summit in the Ghanaian capital of Accra decided to demand that Guinea hold elections within six months, according to the Ghanaian TV channel TV3 Ghana. Media reported on September 5 about a coup in Guinea. Colonel Mamadi Dumbuya announced the dissolution of the government, the abolition of the current constitution and the closure of borders. According to him, President Alpha Conde is under the control of the military in a safe place.
«West African leaders have unanimously decided to demand that the Guinean authorities organize elections within six months in order to return the country to constitutional rule,» the channel said in a statement.
In addition, the community has imposed sanctions on a number of military personnel involved in the rebellion of Guinea's President Alpha Conde. According to the TV channel, ECOWAS Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Cassie Brou told reporters after the summit that the community is committed to supporting the return of Guinea to civilian rule. In the summit communiqué, published by Guineenews, ECOWAS sanctions include a travel ban for members of the military-led National Committee for Cohesion and Development (CNRD) and their families, and a freeze on their financial assets.
The African Union suspends Guinea's membership in the organization Earlier, TV3 Ghana, referring to Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, reported that ECOWAS would hold an emergency summit on the situation in Guinea on September 16. Mosaique Guinee reported that an ECOWAS delegation had arrived in Guinea to meet the rebels who detained the country's president, Alpha Conde. The chairman of the unification commission, Jean-Claude Cassie Brou, said that the members of the delegation met and spoke with the ousted president during the military uprising in the capital of Conakry, and that he was fine. Previously, the Media Guinee portal reported that ECOWAS was suspending Guinea's membership and demanding the release Condé.