Daily Independent (Lagos)
30 December 2008
The African Union (AU) announced on Monday that it has suspended Guinea from its activities until the country returns to Constitutional order.
And President Umaru Yar'Adua gave conditions approved by ECOWAS under which the military junta may be recognised.
Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power on December 23 after the death of President Lansana Conte, but the move drew wide condemnation.
Guinea's temporary exclusion from the AU was decided during a meeting of the body's Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa, where the organisation has its headquarters.
But with sentiment on the streets in Guinea favouring the coup, any attempts at resistance has melted.
Even the overturned government has pledged loyalty to Camara, and by Friday nearly all political parties and unions were on board.
However, Yar'dua on Monday in Abuja met with ECOWAS Commission President, Muhammed Ibn Chambas, after which Chambas told reporters of ECOWAS' rejection of the two-year timeline given by Camara to restore democracy in Guinea.
He said Conte had planned elections by May next year and "the position of the Chairman of ECOWAS, (Yar'Adua), is very clear ECOWAS has a policy of zero tolerance for coups d'etat and so does the African Union.
"We work in tandem with the AU and in that regard, we made it very clear to the government (in Guinea) that as long as there is a military face to the transition it will be difficult for ECOWAS to work with the government.
"At the same time ECOWAS is willing to find a way in which it can facilitate the establishment of a civilian transition to democracy in Guinea because democracy has to be built by the people and no single group or segment of the society can take it upon itself to impose democratic transition.
"That is why it is crucial that ECOWAS remains engaged with Guinea, the people of Guinea, and the CNDD (the government) to ensure that we bring about a short transition in which the entire stakeholders in Guinea, political parties, civil society, unions and all can be a part of this transition, which will now give Guinea an opportunity to join the rest of West Africa on the part of building democratic governance.
Chambas said while ECOWAS has not recognised the coup, these are basic conditions made known to the junta, which he commended for maintaining peace in the country so far.
"I think these are essential conditions. Guinea is in a transition now, we must remark that we found that the country is calm and there has been no violence.
"We have to commend the security forces for keeping peace and security, and we encourage them to continue to do that so that the people of Guinea do not suffer as we have seen in the past, like a lot of violence, killings of civilians, and harassment."
Arhewe Paul (Lagos) And Chesa Chesa (Abuja) (with Agency Reports)
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