Cape Town — The African Union (AU) has condemned the return of coups d'état to the continent, describing the phenomenon as "a very serious setback in the ongoing democratization process in Africa."

Government ministers attending a meeting of the AU's Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa this week issued three separate communiqués dealing with attempted or actual military takeovers during 2008.

In one, the council condemned the attack launched by renegade military elements on the residence of President João Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau on November 23, a week after legislative elections had been held in the country.

In another, the council welcomed the recent release of Mauritania's President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi by the leaders of the August coup which overthrew him, but deplored the "obstinance" of coup leaders who are refusing to allow a return to constitutional rule.

However, it was in its response to Tuesday's coup in Guinea that the AU noted what it called "the resurgence of the phenomenon of coup d'état, which constitutes a threat to peace and security on the continent…"

It said it strongly condemned the coup which followed the announcement of the death of President Lansana Conté.

Citing the numerous ways in which the authors of the coup had breached Guinean and international law, it accused them of acting "in flagrant violation of the Guinean Constitution, the Algiers Decision of July 1999, the Lomé Declaration of July 2000, the Constitutive Act of the AU, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council and relevant instruments of ECOWAS" (the Economic Community of West African States).

The Peace and Security Council asked AU's policy-making bodies to give in-depth consideration to the issue, including ways in which to give early warnings of and prevent coup attempts. The next African Union summit of heads of state will be held in Addis Ababa from February 1 to 3.