The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) has rejected the two-year transition period set by military coupists in Guinea after they took over the government after the death of President Lansana Conte last week.
In alternative, the sub-regional organization is routing for a short transition to be carried out by civilians devoid of military interference.
ECOWAS President Mohamed Ibn Chambas told State House correspondents on Monday in Abuja that the body maintained its zero tolerance for coup.
"The position of Chairman of ECOWAS, President (Umaru) Yar' Adua, is very clear, ECOWAS has a policy of zero tolerance for coup and so does the African Union, we work in tandem with the AU in that regard," Chambas said.
"We made it very clear that as long as there is military face to the transition, it would be difficult for the ECOWAS to work with the government," he said.
"At the same time, ECOWAS is willing to find a way in which it can facilitate the establishment of a civilian transition to democracy in Guinea because democracy has to be build by the people and no single group or segment of the society can take it upon by itself to impose democratic transition."
"That is why it is crucial that ECOWAS remains engaged with Guinea, with the people of Guinea, and the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) to ensure that we bring about short transition," Chambas said.
The ECOWAS President said the transition would give Guinea an opportunity to join the rest of West Africa on the part of building democratic governance.
He said a delegation of ECOWAS to Guinea found that the country was calm and there had been no violence, adding that the body commended the security forces of that country for keeping the peace and security.
"We encourage them to continue to do that so that the people of Guinea do not suffer as we have seen in the past - a lot of violence, killings of civilians and harassment," he said.
"But the task now is to involve all the Guinean people, particularly civil society, political parties and unions in a transition which I must emphasis should be short, go towards holding elections, credible, transparent, free and fair elections and if Guineans did that I think they would have the support of not only ECOWAS but that of the AU and the international community," he added.
He said that ECOWAS could mobilize international supports to facilitate early elections and Guinea was already preparing for parliamentary elections on May 31 next year, saying that the arrangement could continue to facilitate early elections.
He said the ECOWAS delegation had made the position known to the coup leaders with the hope that they could change their stand.