West African foreign ministers met in Nigeria’s capital Abuja seeking to quell dissent among nations ruled by military leaders that seized power.
A delayed election in Senegal and decisions by junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to withdraw from the regional bloc ECOWAS tested unity in West Africa.
Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States emphasized on Friday "the critical need for diplomacy and unity in the face of regional challenges."
Nigeria's Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar, who chaired the talks, said leaders "must carry forward the momentum generated in this session and continue our efforts to engage with the concerned member states in the spirit of understanding and reconciliation."
The session followed the decision by Senegal's President Macky Sall to indefinitely postpone the presidential election scheduled to take place on Feb. 25 due to a dispute over the candidate list.
And in late January the self-appointed military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger jointly announced they would leave ECOWAS, which had urged those nations to restore constitutional order.
If the three nations leave the 15-nation regional economic bloc, Tuggar said, their departures "would not only bring hardship to their people but also undermine regional integration efforts."
Regional integration, diplomacy and terrorism
The emergency session focused on terrorism, along with regional integration and diplomacy.
The regional bloc said it decided to activate a standby force "to combat the existential threat of terrorism that looms over the community, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger." It also urged Senegal to return to its election timetable.
Until now, Mauritania has been the only member to withdraw from ECOWAS, which was formed by a treaty in 1975 at Lagos, Nigeria.
ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray said leaders are committed to reflecting citizens' aspirations for accountable and democratic governance.
The ECOWAS region, which was created to operate as a self-sufficient trading bloc, has been in turmoil since last year over the coup in Niger. Sanctions imposed by ECOWAS banned goods from being brought in to Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world.
The country receives US$2 billion a year in development aid, but is the world's seventh-biggest producer of uranium used in nuclear energy and cancer treatments and is home to 1,100 U.S. troops at two American bases.
