(Bloomberg) -- The Economic Community of West African States imposed sanctions on the military junta ruling Guinea to pressure it to agree to a timetable to return to democracy.

Ecowas member states agreed to recall their ambassadors to Guinea, the world’s top exporter of bauxite, for consultations, according to a statement released after an extraordinary summit on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

The penalties include asset freezes and travel bans against individuals and groups deemed to be preventing the transfer of power in a “reasonable timeframe,” it said. The financial institutions associated with the bloc will suspend all transactions with the country. 

The military, led by Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, took power in September last year after toppling President Alpha Conde. It’s being governed by a National Transitional Council, which banned protests after announcing in May it would hold elections in three years.

Opposition political and civil-society groups rejected the timeline and it was considered too long by the 15-member Ecowas, which has also had to deal with military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.

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