West African bloc delegation says talks with Guinea-Bissau coup leaders will continue

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) – A delegation from the West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS made no headway in talks Monday with coup leaders in Guinea-Bissau but said at the end of its visit that discussions would continue later this month.

The ECOWAS mission, led by its chairman and the President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio, came to Guinea-Bissau to appeal with the military authorities for a “complete restoration of constitutional order.” The military – which seized power last Wednesday – has banned all demonstrations, strikes and activities regarded as threat to peace and stability of the West African country.

“We’ve had today very fruitful discussions,” said Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Aladje Moussa Kaba. “Both sides have expressed their different concerns.”

As the ECOWAS chairman, Bio “condemned the coup,” the minister said, adding that the military authorities said the coup was necessary to “to restore order and security.”

João Bernardo Vieira, the newly appointed foreign minister of Guinea Bissau said it was “very clearly established” that ECOWAS would not leave Guinea-Bissau “during this difficult period.”

“The transitional authorities and the military will continue their discussions,” he said. “A one-year deadline had been set for the end of the transition, but the matter will be submitted to the ECOWAS Conference of Heads of State and Government on December 14.”

Soldiers seized power in the West African nation three days after a closely contested presidential election which the two main contenders claim to have won.

During the coup Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embaló told French media by phone that he had been deposed and arrested. Embalo has since fled to the Republic of Congo’s capital Brazzaville.

Guinea-Bissau’s military has installed former army chief of staff Gen. Horta Inta-a as the head of the military government, which will oversee a one-year transition period. On Saturday Inta-a appointed a new 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the ousted president.

Nigeria said its President Bola Tinubu has granted protection for Guinea-Bissau opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa in response to an “imminent threat to his life.”

According to a letter to ECOWAS from Nigeria on Sunday, Dias da Costa is at the Nigerian Embassy in Bissau, the country’s capital. The letter requested an ECOWAS troop to provide security.

The day after the coup, ECOWAS said it suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies “until the restoration of full and effective constitutional order in the country.” It said its mediation team would travel to Bissau to “engage the leaders of the coup with a view to ensuring the full restoration of constitutional order.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern over the events in Guinea-Bissau and condemned the coup. In a statement, Guterres said that disregarding “the will of the people who peacefully cast their vote during the Nov. 23 general elections constitutes an unacceptable violation of democratic principles.”

He called for the “immediate and unconditional restoration of constitutional order,” as well as the release of all detained officials, including electoral authorities, opposition leaders and other political actors.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including a coup attempt in October. The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises.

Widely seen as West Africa’s leading political and regional authority, the 15-nation ECOWAS was formed in 1975 to promote economic integration among member states. The bloc often collaborates with members’ governments to solve domestic challenges on various fronts from politics to economics and security. It has struggled in recent years to reverse coups in the region where citizens have complained of not benefiting from rich natural resources.