West Africa bloc, African Union observers voice concern over Guinea-Bissau coup

West Africa’s ECOWAS and African Union observers on Wednesday expressed concern over the military takeover in Guinea-Bissau and the arrests of election officials, a joint statement issued by the organizations said.
A group of army officers said earlier on Wednesday they had seized power in the coup-prone West African nation, a day before the planned announcement of results from a hotly contested presidential election.
“It’s regrettable that this (coup) announcement came at a time when the missions had just concluded meeting with the two leading presidential candidates, who assured us of their willingness to accept the will of the people,” the observers said.