Assembly/AU/4(XII) Page 5 international community, namely, the contribution of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in his capacity as President to the search for a solution, the participation of all the stakeholders and the full compliance with the Mauritanian Constitution. During its 163rd meeting held on 22 December 2008, the PSC decided that if, by 5 February 2009, constitutional order had not been restored, measures, including travel bans and assets freeze would be imposed on all persons, military or civilian , whose activities seek to maintain the unconstitutional status quo. 23. In Guinea Bissau, the attack against the residence of President Joao Bernardo Vieira took place on 23 November 2008, exactly one week after the legislative elections that were deemed satisfactory by all the international observers, including those from the AU. It should be pointed out that this attack took place at a time when the political climate was dominated by very high tensions between the main political leaders of the country. 24. In the Republic of Guinea, the coup d’état occurred after the announcement of the death of President Lansana Conté on 23 December 2008. It should be recalled that the Constitution of Guinea provides that in the event of a power vacuum, it shall be filled by the Speaker of the National Assembly. The leaders of the coup d’état have since then announced their intention to restore constitutional order before the end of the year 2009, after elections in which the personalities who participated in the transition will not stand as candidates. ECOWAS made a commitment to support this process at its Extraordinary Summit held in Abuja, Nigeria on 10 January 2009. At the time of finalizing this report, an AU delegation was in Conakry for consultations with all the actors concerned, both on the evolving situation and on the modalities for AU support with a view to the restoration of constitutional legality before the end of this year. 25. Faced with this situation, the PSC reacted in accordance with the relevant AU instruments. It is worth recalling that the Constitutive Act expresses in no uncertain terms the unequivocal rejection by the AU of any unconstitutional changes of Government. Mention should also be made of the Lomé Declaration of July 2000 adopted as a follow-up to the 1999 Algiers Decision. More specifically, the Declaration provides, beyond the initial reaction of condemning the unconstitutional change of Government and suspending the participation of the country concerned in AU’s activities, that a maximum period of six months should be granted to the masterminds of the change in question to restore constitutional legality. If, on the expiry of this deadline, constitutional order is not restored, the Declaration stipulates that a series of limited and targeted sanctions should be imposed on the authors of the unconstitutional change. 26. In January 2007, the Assembly of the Union adopted the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which, among other provisions, reinforced significantly the regime of sanctions applicable in the event of unconstitutional change. Thus, the Charter, among other things, prescribes, in addition to the suspension of the country concerned, the non-participation of the authors of the unconstitutional change in the elections organized for the restoration of constitutional order. It also prohibits them from occupying posts of responsibility in the political institutions of their State. Furthermore, the Charter provides for the possibility of the Assembly of the Union imposing sanctions against any State Party that foments and