We demand respect for the constitution, a return to the constitutional order and we will never accept the military coup. We know there are internal problems. They need to be resolved politically by the Zanu-PF party and not with an intervention by the army."

He seems to be taking a harder line than the AU commission, which in a statement last night called for the crisis to be resolved “in a manner that promotes democracy and human rights” – but did not refer to the situation as a coup.

The generals who have taken power insist it is not a coup and that they are just dealing with “criminal elements” surrounding President Robert Mugabe. Mr Conde became president of Guinea in 2010 after a lifelong battle against a series of despotic and military regimes which sent him into exile and prison.