West African Countries Split Over Guinea Coup

A split has emerged between West African nations supporting the recent coup in Guinea and those opposed to it. The first leader to voice his support for the coup leaders was Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, while the leader of regional powerhouse Nigeria, President Umaru Yar’Adua, leads the group of those opposed to the putsch. Foreign ministers from the regional grouping ECOWAS are set to meet on Friday in the Nigerian, Abuja, to discuss whether or not to suspend Guinea. Soldiers led by 44-year-old Captain Moussa Dadis Camara seized power after the death of President Lansana Conte last December, prompting the African Union to suspend Guinea three days after their takeover.[PE]