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The United States said it did not recognize the legitimacy of Togo's military-installed interim president, Faure Gnassingbe, and called on him to step down immediately.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said it did not recognize the legitimacy of Togo's military-installed interim president, Faure Gnassingbe, and called on him to step down immediately.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that Washington supported the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which suspended Togo from the regional grouping earlier in the day.
"The United States does not accept as legitimate the designation of Gnassingbe as interim president and calls on him to step aside immediately," Boucher said in a statement.
He said the United States had ended all military assistance to Togo and "we are reviewing all aspects of our relations with Togo in order to identify further means of supporting the actions of ECOWAS."
The military installed Gnassingbe as interim successor to his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who died on February 5 after 38 years of iron-fisted rule over the tiny and impoverished nation.
The United States quickly made clear its unease with the move, calling for respect for the constitutional process and joining other countries in urging a peaceful, transparent and democratic transition of power.
But a US official confirmed that Saturday's statement was the first explicit US call for Gnassingbe to give up the post.
Boucher reiterated the US demand that the Togolese authorities fully comply with ECOWAS demands for a restoration of constitutional order.
"We are convinced that peaceful national reconciliation and democratic governance can only be achieved in Togo through the conduct of free, transparent and fully participatory elections," the statement said.
It said the polls should be organized under a "neutral, independent authority working closely with regional and international organizations."
In addition to suspending Togo's membership, ECOWAS slapped a regional travel ban on Togolese officials and ordered the recall of west African ambassadors and a complete arms embargo.
The moves came as 25,000 opposition supporters demonstrated in the Togolese capital Lome against Gnassingbe's rule, the biggest such march since he was installed in power on February 7.
The US statement welcomed the decision by the Togolese authorities to lift a ban on political demonstrations.
"We believe that continued restraint and tolerance on all sides can greatly contribute toward eventual national reconciliation in Togo," it said.
The United States suspended direct government assistance to Togo in 1994 following what it called a flawed presidential election and gross human rights abuses.