Published on : 21/09/2022 – 13:39Modified : 21/09/2022 – 13:50
In an interview with France 24 and RFI, the current president of ECOWAS warns the Guinean junta if the transition lasts longer than expected. Umaro Sissoco Embalo says the organization’s extraordinary summit, which he convened this week in New York, will focus on Mali and Guinea. A summit that the President of Guinea Bissau denies having convened at the request of the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, because of the case of Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali.
On this subject, he believes that they are not mercenaries as claimed by the Malian junta. And calls for their unconditional release. On the other hand, he decides against the Malian proposal to exchange them for the extradition of three Malian opponents living in Côte d’Ivoire. He explains that he is no longer in contact with Colonel Assimi Goïta. Asked about the possibility of new ECOWAS sanctions against Bamako, he says that all options are on the table. Asked whether the lifting of economic sanctions against the junta in July was premature, he pointed out that it was President Ouattara himself who had pushed for this relaxation.
On Guinea, he considers unacceptable a timetable for the return to civilian power beyond 24 months. And warns that if the junta persists in maintaining its 36-month deadline, new sanctions are possible. He calls for the creation of an ECOWAS anti-coup force, saying the upsurge in coups in the region is “outdated”.