Guinea/Ecowas/France

African Union, France welcome Guinea sanctions

Article published on the 2009-10-18 Latest update 2009-10-19 07:44 TU

Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré (L) with Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on a visit to Conakry this month
(Photo: Reuters)

The African Union (AU) has supported an arms embargo on Guinea by west African states in response to last month's Conakry massacre. But Guinean strongman Moussa Dadis Camara has missed a deadline to promise not to stand in next year's presidential election.

On Saturday the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) slapped an arms embargo on Guinea and called for support from the AU, the European Union and the United Nations so as to enforce it.

AU officials dubbed the Ecowas meeting a success and declared that Dadis Camara's National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) is no longer a partner in the transition to democracy.

A statement from French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also welcomed the decision.

"The murderers and rapists must be identified, judged and punished, as must those who gave the orders," it says.

Both Kouchner and the AU backed mediation efforts by Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaoré.

But Dadis Camara has called for negotiation on an AU demand that he declare that he will not stand in the 2010 presidential election, ignoring a Saturday deadline.

"Legally speaking, the deadline has expired but politically, we are still working to put pressure on the junta. It's the result that matters most," AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told the AFP news agency.

"We are waiting to hear back from Compaoré to see whether or not the junta is changing its position ... If he tells us that they are sticking to their guns, then sanctions will be enforced."

The military leader has "asked that this aspect is not dealt with separately from other aspects of the transition and that the Ecowas mediator or facilitator should examine all questions together instead of emphasising just one aspect of the transition ...," Guinea's Foreign Affairs Minister Alexandre Cécé Loua told RFI's French service.

The military government has appointed a 31-member commission to investigate the massacre. It includes seven judges, seven lawyers and members of political parties that support the government.

Opposition parties and civil rights groups were also allotted seats but have declared that they will boycott it.