The junta in Guinea should step down and make way for a new transitional body after the army massacred dozens of opposition protestors, regional and international groups said on Tuesday.
The International Contact Group on Guinea "has called for a new transitional authority in Guinea" which should be "based on the withdrawal" of the 10-month-old ruling junta, it said in a statement.
The group, which comprises regional bodies, the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union and the Organisation of Islamic Conference, said the interim team should aim at a "short peaceful transitional period".
During its tenure in office the team should conduct "credible, free and fair elections in which those holding executive position demonstrate total neutrality throughout the electoral process".
The contact group met in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Monday after which Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua called for an emergency summit of heads of states from 15 west African states to discuss Guinea and Niger.
The extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is due on Saturday, the deadline set by the African Union's Peace and Security Council for Guinea's junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara to re-affirm his commitment to stay out of the presidential election.
Elections are due in January 2010.
International and regional pressure is mounting on Camara to categorically state that neither himself nor any member of his National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) would stand in the polls.
If he remains defiant he could face sanctions, according to Nigerian Deputy Foreign Minister Bagudu Hirse.
Camara seized power in December last year after the death of Guinean strongman Lansana Conte, who had ruled the world's top bauxite producer since 1984.
More than 150 people were killed when troops opened fire on opposition demonstrators at a stadium in Guinea's capital Conakry on September 28, according to the UN and rights group. The government says 56 people died.
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