West African nations are considering sending troops to stabilise Guinea Bissau and will hold an emergency meeting next month to discuss political turmoil in the country, Nigeria's president said today.
Prone to coups and revolts, the tiny nation of 1.6 million people has become a hub for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Latin American cocaine headed to Europe, further undermining efforts to restore it to stability.
After a meeting with president Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, which neighbours Guinea-Bissau, Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan said the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) would hold an emergency meeting between September 13th to discuss the instability.
"It is important for Ecowas to take necessary steps to stabilise Guinea-Bissau and avoid deterioration of the situation," said Mr Jonathan, who is also ECOWAS president.
He said the West African region had the capacity to provide the 600 troops which Guinea-Bissau's president had asked for.
An army mutiny on April 1st ousted Guinea-Bissau's military chief and led to the brief detention of its prime minister, dashing a mood of progress that had been building after polls last year to replace a slain former leader went smoothly.
The European Union said two weeks ago it would not extend a mission, launched in June 2008, to help reform the security forces because the country had failed to respect the rule of law since the mutiny.
A number of regional African summits have suggested that Ecowas could send a stabilisation force to the former Portuguese colony but the idea has so far not gained much traction.
UN officials say the country has become a hub of the drug trade between Latin America and Europe. A number of political killings last year, including of the president, army chief and a presidential candidate, have been linked to the trade.
Reuters