ECOWAS chairman ends working visit to Guinea
Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - The Guinea-Bissau head of state and current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Umaro Sissaco Embaló, on Wednesday held several meetings in the Guinean capital, Conakry, with various personalities on the transition timetable to return the country to constitutional rule as demanded by he leaders of the sub-regional group.
After his tête-à-tête with his Guinean counterpart, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, the Guinea-Bissau president met members of the National Council of the Transition (CNT), the government, ambassadors of the United States and France, as well as representatives of the United Nations, European Union, African Union and ECOWAS.
The current ECOWAS chairman introduced the former Beninese head of state, Thomas Yayi Boni, as mediator of the sub-regional organisation, who arrived in the Guinean capital 24 hours earlier, and explained the conduct of the mediation between the socio-political actors.
Mr. Embaló and Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, did not meet with the socio-political actors before leaving Conakry on Wednesday without making a statement to the press.
The mediator will start discussions on the transition timelines with interested parties, including civilians and military, on Thursday.
The 61st Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State, held in Accra on 3 July, rejected the 36-month transition period adopted by the CNT.
ECOWAS is proposing a "reasonable period" of 24 months, which is non-negotiable, failing which it will activate new sanctions, particularly economic and financial.
Guinea has been suspended from the organisation's bodies since the seizure of power by the National Rally for Development (CNRD) on 5 September 2021.
-0- PANA AC/JSG/SOC/BBA/MA 21July2022
