Guinea junta launches attack on ECOWAS president

The ruling junta in Guinea has launched a violent attack on the current president of ECOWAS ahead of a summit of the organization, denouncing Wednesday's remarks as a "disgrace".

In the attack on Thursday (September 22), the junta accused the ECOWAS president of practicing "clown diplomacy.

"The crude lie and the remarks which are similar to intimidation are nowadays retrograde practices which do not honor its author and tarnish at the same time the brand image of ECOWAS. We cannot bear this shame," said Colonel Amara Camara, secretary general of the transitional presidency.

"We are not in a relationship of clowns or reality TV," he added.

Colonel Camara blamed the current president of the Bissau-Guinean Umaro Sissoco Embalo, for his statements to French media RFI and France 24 on Wednesday.

Mr. Embalo had warned that Guinea would face "heavy sanctions" if the junta, which came to power by force in September 2021, persisted in wanting to stay in power for three years.

He reaffirmed that during a visit to Guinea he had obtained an agreement with the junta to hand over to elected civilians after two years, which Colonel Camara described as a "lie.

Leaders of ECOWAS member states are expected to hold a summit in New York on Thursday afternoon on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with the situation in Guinea and the crisis between Mali and Ivory Coast at the top of their agenda.