African Union suspends Guinea-Bissau following military coup

The African Union has suspended Guinea-Bissau following a military coup, stating it will not tolerate unconstitutional changes, AP and other Agencies reported on November 29th.

In a resolution released by the AU Peace and Security Council, the organisation maintained it has “zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government” and announced its intention to “immediately suspend the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from participating in all activities of the Union, its organs, and institutions until constitutional order is restored in the country.”
The West African regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, also suspended Guinea-Bissau from its decision-making bodies until constitutional order is restored.

These announcements came after a group of military officers appeared on state television to announce that they had suspended the upcoming election and would impose a curfew in the country. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his major political opponents, Fernando Dias and Domingos Simões Pereira, were all taken into custody.
Guinea-Bissau’s history is littered with successful and failed coups since its independence from Portugal over 50 years ago, including an attempted takeover in October.

AP, Maghrebi.org