An emergency meeting of West African foreign ministers began on Monday with the violent overthrow of the presidents of Guinea Bissau and Niger and the war in Sierra Leone as its main focus, news reports said.
Niger's president, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was shot dead by his
presidential guard on 9 April and, on 7 May, Guinea Bissau's Joao Bernardo Vieira was overthrown by a Military Junta.
Reuters reported that the executive secretary of the 16-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Lansana Kouyate, called for sanctions against the new leaders in Guinea Bissau and Niger.
"It is time to bring an end to coups which only tarnish the image of our sub-region," Kouyate told Reuters. "If we are silent it will continue."
The commander of ECOMOG - the ECOWAS peace monitoring force in Sierra Leone - Major General Felix Mujakperuo, was scheduled to brief the meeting, which representatives of the Organisation of African Unity and the UN were also expected to attend.
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