CONAKRY, Guinea
West
Africa's main political and economic bloc suspended Guinea's membership on
Wednesday following a weekend military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde
and dealt the latest in a flurry of setbacks to democracy in the region.Army soldiers hold a checkpoint after the uprising that led to the toppling of President Alpha Conde in Kaloum neighbourhood of Conacry in Guinea, September 6, 2021.
During a
virtual summit, leaders from the 15-member Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) demanded a return to the constitutional order and Conde's
immediate release, and also agreed to send a high-level mission to Guinea as
soon as Thursday, said Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Alpha Barry.
"At
the end of that mission, ECOWAS should be able to re-examine its
position," Barry told reporters.
He did not
announce any immediate economic sanctions against Guinea, as ECOWAS imposed
against Mali following a coup there in August 2020.
Some
experts say ECOWAS's leverage with Guinea could be limited, in part because the
country is not a member of the West African currency union and not landlocked
like Mali.
The
economic bloc's response is being closely watched amid criticism from
pro-democracy advocates that it has not stood up robustly enough in recent
months against democratic backsliding in West Africa.
ECOWAS
remained silent last year as Conde and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara
sought third terms after changing constitutions that would have forced them to
step down, moves denounced as illegal by their opponents.
Activists
say this has contributed to West Africans' loss of faith in democracy and made
military coups more likely.
Mali's
military staged a second coup in May this year. ECOWAS said on Tuesday it was
concerned transitional authorities there had not made sufficient progress
toward organising elections next February as promised.
Guinea's
coup leader, Mamady Doumbouya, a former French legionnaire, has pledged to
install a unified, transitional government but has not said when or how that
will happen.
In an
apparent gesture to Conde's civilian opponents, at least 80 political prisoners
detained by the president were released on Tuesday evening, many of whom had
campaigned against his constitutional change.Prisoners who were detained after campaigning against ousted President Alpha Conde's third term react after they were released in Conakry, Guinea, September 7, 2021.
Doumbouya
also met the heads of Guinea's various military branches for the first time on
Tuesday, hoping to unify the country's armed forces under the junta's command.
Guinea's
main opposition leader, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who finished runner-up to Conde
in three successive elections, told Reuters on Tuesday he would be open to
participating in a transition back to constitutional governance.
In a
statement on Tuesday evening, Conde's party said it "noted the advent of
new authorities at the head of the country" and called for the president's
swift and unconditional release.
Since the
putsch, life in the streets of Conakry appears to have returned to normal, with
some military checkpoints removed.
Fears that
the power struggle could hinder Guinea's production of bauxite, a mineral used
to make aluminium, have begun to ease. The country's largest foreign operators
say they have continued to operate without interruption.
Aluminium
hit a fresh 10-year high on Monday after news broke of unrest in Guinea, which
holds the world's largest bauxite reserves. Doumbouya has pledged that mining
will continue unhindered.
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