The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold an extraordinary summit on Guinea on Thursday following a coup that ousted long-serving leader, President Alpha Conde.
Soldiers of the special forces ousted Conde and dissolved his cabinet on Sunday, prompting ECOWAS to threaten sanctions if constitutional order is not restored.
International powers condemned the coup, placing pressure on the new military leaders to offer a plan beyond toppling the old order and to assure investors that Guinea’s significant ore exports would remain intact.
“A consultation will be carried out to define the major framework of the transition, then a government of national unity will be put in place to lead the transition,” coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, a former French legionnaire officer, told a meeting of Conde’s ministers and senior government officials.
“At the end of this transitional phase, we’ll set the tone for a new era for governance and economic development.”
Doumbouya did not say what the transition would entail or give a date for a return to democratic elections.