The move by the ECOWAS to send an intervention force in Guinea for a peace-keeping mission is indeed commendable.
As stated by an ECOWAS official, Abdel Fatau Musah, the unrest in Guinea has threatened to destabilise the whole region.
Despite this pronouncement, the junta spokesman Col. Moussa Keita described the proposed move as an "assault on the authority of the state."
We insist that if this situation persists there is an absolute need to deploy an intervention force in the troubled Guinea.
Mr. Musah was also quoted by BBC saying that ECOWAS and its partners "will not stand by while the situation in Guinea continues to deteriorate and threatens the very stability of the neighbouring countries."
"If the situation persists, ECOWAS will have no alternative, but to send an intervention force," he said.
The ECOWAS and the AU should not turn a blind eye to the crisis in Guinea. There is a need for an intervention force to help ameliorate the situation.
Junta leader Capt Moussa Dadis Camara is still in hospital after the botched assassination attempt on 3 December.
ECOWAS President Mohammed Ibn Chambas has recently called for the "preventative deployment of a humanitarian and civilian protection force."
This is no doubt a welcome development on the side of ECOWAS and we encourage them to go ahead with the proposal, despite Col. Keiteh?s resistance.
We still maintain that the military should go back to the barracks to allow sanity to prevail.
We therefore urge the ECOWAS to go ahead with the proposed plan of sending a peace-keeping mission.
"I wanted to avoid violence. Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed."
Gandhi
