ECOWAS envoys meet Guinea Foreign Minister ahead of summit

Ambassadors of the West African block ECOWAS met with the Guinean foreign minister in Conakry on Thursday, ahead of the summit that the block will hold next Sunday to discuss the situation in Guinea and Mali.

The group, that has suspended Guinea's membership and called for the junta to release former president Alpha Condé, has demanded the military to call for elections and re-establish the constitutional order in the country.

In the past weeks, Col. Mamady Doumbouya - who lead the coup and was sworn in as interim president on October - has named several ministers and appointed senior international civil servant Mohamed Beavogui as prime minister of the government that is transitioning the nation to civilian rule after the coup in September.

As Guinea's transitional prime minister, Beavogui will be resp onsible for coordinating government action and implementing the transition charter that aims to work toward a civilian government.

While the junta has outlined its transition government and pledged to organize democratic elections, it has yet to set a certain timeframe for doing so.

Guinea's junta on Sept. 5 overthrew Conde, whose popularity had plummeted after he pursued a third term saying term limits didn't apply to him.