West African bloc ECOWAS rejected on Sunday a transition programme announced by Guinea-Bissau’s military rulers and demanded a swift return to constitutional order, warning of targeted sanctions against those obstructing the process.

Army officers in Guinea-Bissau, branding themselves the Military High Command, toppled President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26 and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president the following day.

Guinea-Bissau’s coup is the ninth in West and Central Africa in five years, deepening concerns over democratic backsliding in a region already grappling with insecurity and political instability.

Leaders at the Economic Community of West African States' annual summit in Nigerian capital Abuja called for the immediate release of all political detainees, including opposition figures, and insisted on an inclusive short transition in Guinea-Bissau.

"What ECOWAS leaders have resolved to do, is to ensure that there is zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government," said Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission. 

ECOWAS said that elections held on November 23 were deemed free and transparent by its own observers, the African Union and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

ECOWAS also mandated its chair to lead a high-level delegation to Guinea-Bissau for talks with the junta.

If the junta failed to comply with the ECOWAS demands, the bloc would impose targeted sanctions against individuals or groups blocking the transition, the bloc said, urging the African Union and international partners to support its efforts.