West African leaders to hold summit on Guinea coup on Thursday

West African leaders will meet on Thursday to decide how to respond to the coup in Guinea and how to pressure the junta leaders to return the country to constitutional rule, Ghana's foreign minister said.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned the putsch that overthrew President Alpha Conde, the third coup in West and Central Africa since April.

The bloc suspended Guinea from the decision-making bodies of the organisation last week and sent a mission to meet the coup leaders.

Ghana Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, who chairs the ECOWAS council of ministers, told a news conference in Accra that the mission would report back to ECOWAS leaders on Thursday.

"The presidents will consider the report and decide what to do. They'll decide on how to put pressure on the coup-makers to bring Guinea back to constitutional rule," Botchway said.

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