Conakry – West African leaders slapped an assets freeze and travel ban on Guinea’s junta, a statement seen by AFP on Friday said, following an emergency summit.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced on Thursday it had agreed to impose gradual sanctions on Conakry over its inflexibility in agreeing a date to return to civilian rule.
An ECOWAS statement from the summit on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York also listed “the suspension of all financial assistance and transactions for Guinea from ECOWAS financial institutions”.
The bloc gave the junta a month from September 22 to agree to a “reasonable and acceptable” timeframe for a return to civilian rule, or risk “more severe sanctions”.
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ECOWAS had previously said it would accept a two-year period before elections, but the junta insisted on three years.
Poor but mineral-rich Guinea has been under military government since a coup in September 2021 that ousted president Alpha Conde, after more than 10 years in power.
ECOWAS has been struggling with a string of military takeovers in the region. Mali underwent coups in August 2020 and May 2021, followed by Guinea and then Burkina Faso in January.
The bloc has lifted tough sanctions that had been imposed on Mali’s regime, accepting a March 2024 return to civilian rule. But Mali and Guinea remain suspended from ECOWAS.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/ @Baillorjah
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