ECOWAS calls for elections in Guinea this year

By Felix Onuah

ABUJA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Friday urged Guinea's military junta to hold elections by the end of the year, adding to international calls for a return to constitutional order in the world's top bauxite exporter.

The National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) -- a junta led by young army captain Moussa Dadis Camara -- seized power in Guinea on Dec. 23 following the death of autocratic President Lansana Conte, who had ruled since 1984.

Major donors including the United States and European Union have called for a return to constitutional rule, while the African Union has suspended Guinea.

But the junta has tried to reassure nervous neighbours that it poses no threat, sending representatives to Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Sierra Leone to explain the takeover. Senegal and Libya have publicly indicated they would be ready to work with Camara.

"There is a need for us to speak with one voice, that in Africa, the era of making a distinction between a good coup and a bad coup is over," Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told a meeting of ECOWAS foreign ministers in Abuja.

"There is no patriotic coup as distinct from an unpatriotic coup. The ECOWAS protocol we are all parties to leaves no room for those distinctions," he said.

But Maduekwe, who is chairman of the ECOWAS security and mediation committee, also said Guinea would need the support of its neighbours in the coming months.

"We cannot walk away from the challenges of assisting the authorities in Guinea to return to constitutionality," he said.

"In the African spirit of being our brother's keeper, ECOWAS shall support and reward every sincere move in Guinea to ensure the emergence of a democratically elected government within the year."

The junta, which was welcomed by ordinary citizens in Guinea as a break from Conte's corrupt and nepotistic administration, has appointed a civilian transition government and initially promised elections in 2010.

But Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, who endorsed the coup leaders, has suggested polls could be held earlier, while French secretary of state for cooperation Alain Joyandet has said Camara had agreed to hold polls within 12 months. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: africa.reuters.com/ ) (Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh, Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jon Boyle)