PSC/PR/Comm(CLXIV) Page 1 COMMUNIQUE OF THE 164TH MEETING OF THE PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 164th meeting held in Addis Ababa, on 24 December 2008, adopted the following decision on the situation in the Republic of Guinea: Council, 1. Expresses its profound sadness at the passing of President Lansana Conté, President of the Republic of Guinea, and conveys its heartfelt condolences to the people and Government of Guinea and to the family of the deceased Head of State; 2. Recalls the press release on the situation in Guinea issued by the Chairperson of the Commission on 23 December 2008; 3. Takes note of the briefing by the Commission on the situation in the Republic of Guinea, as well as the statements made by the Permanent Representative of Guinea to the AU and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for West Africa; 4. Strongly condemns the coup attempt in that country by elements of the Guinean armed forces, upon the announcement of the death of President Lansana Conté, and their subsequent announcement of the suspension of the Constitution and state institutions, in flagrant violation of the Guinean Constitution, the Algiers Decision of July 1999, the Lomé Declaration of July 2000, the Constitutive Act of the AU, the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council and relevant instruments of ECOWAS; 5. Demands the respect of the provisions of the Guinean Constitution, including those relating to the succession to the Head of State, and urges all Guinean stakeholders to work within the framework of legality, in a spirit of consensus and in the higher interest of Guinea; 6. Urges all parties in Guinea, particularly the heads of the armed forces at all levels, to do everything to avoid acts of violence and coercion. In this regard, Council stresses that the perpetrators of the coup attempt and all those involved in the subversion of the Guinean Constitution and efforts aimed at undermining legality, including violations of human rights and the dignity of Guineans, shall be held fully and personally accountable for their actions and dealt with accordingly; 7. Welcomes the efforts that ECOWAS has been making over the past few years to engage the Guinean authorities and other stakeholders on the serious problems facing their country, in particular the immediate action of the ECOWAS leadership in unequivocally condemning the coup attempt and the call for the respect of the Constitution, including its provisions pertaining to succession to the Head of State. Council encourages ECOWAS to pursue and intensify its efforts, including the early dispatch of a delegation of the region to Conakry, to assess the situation and facilitate the resolution of the current impasse created by the