The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold an extraordinary summit on Guinea on Thursday, according to a staff memo shared with Reuters.
Special forces soldiers ousted long-serving President Alpha Conde and dissolved his cabinet on Sunday, prompting ECOWAS to demand a return to constitutional order and threaten to impose sanctions.
The takeover was widely condemned by international powers, placing pressure on the new military leaders to offer a plan beyond the toppling of the old order and to reassure investors that Guinea’s significant ore exports would not be cut.
“A consultation will be carried out to define the major framework of the transition, then a government of national unity will be put in place to lead the transition,” coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, a former French legionnaire officer, told a meeting of Conde’s ministers and senior government officials.
“At the end of this transitional phase, we’ll set the tone for a new era for governance and economic development.”
Doumbouya did not say what the transition would entail or give a date for a return to democratic elections. (Reuters)
