Leaders from ECOWAS countries were Saturday locked up in talks to resolve divisions over whether to suspend Guinea from the west African regional bloc because of last December's coup.
Foreign ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc on Friday called for the country to be barred but pledged to help it return to democratic rule.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who currently holds the bloc's rotating chairmanship, stressed the importance of returning Guinea "to constitutional democracy as quickly as practicable.
"It is particularly necessary for all ECOWAS member states ... to avoid creating the impression that we are working at cross purposes," Yar'Adua told the opening session of the summit.
"Indeed we should all be united in upholding the principles of democratic and constitutionnal transition in Africa," he said.
But one ECOWAS member state, Senegal, has already publicly endorsed the new regime.
Guinean soldiers led by 44-year-old Captain Moussa Dadis Camara staged a bloodless coup on December 23, hours after the death of long-time dictator Lansana Conte.
Conte, who was 74 when he died, had ruled Guinea, the world's leading exporter of bauxite, with an iron fist for 24 years.
The heads of state are expected to reach a decision later Saturday, probably by consensus.
Leaders present at the talks include those from Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and the newly elected president of Ghana.
The rest of the countries are represented by high-level delegations, except for Guinea. But Kabine Komara, the prime minister appointed by the junta, is in Abuja and is expected to address the meeting.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who has stayed away from the Abuja talks, came out in support of the junta just three days after the coup.
In defiance of warnings from Nigeria, Wade travelled to Conakry this week and vowed to do everything in his power to avoid sanctions being imposed on Guinea.
The foreign ministers recommended that Guinea be suspended and that it remain so "until a constitutional order is restored."
They also recommended the junta turn itself into a national transition council comprising both military and civilians figures.
The council should lead dialogue in the country towards the restoration of constitutional order and hold elections this year.
ECOWAS, along with the AU and the European Union would help set up the transitional body, assisting with financing and monitoring its progress, said ECOWAS official.
The coup has been condemned across the world.
In December, the African Union suspending Guinea from among its ranks. On Tuesday, the United States suspended aid to Guinea, calling for a return to civilian rule and elections.
Yar Adua asked delegates to the talks in the administrative capital to stand and observe a minute's silence "for our colleague and brother, a patriot and illustrious son of Africa, President Lansana Conte."
