“We prefer to have sanctions and be in peace and stability rather than descending towards civil war,” said Tozoun (R).

LOME, February 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The world community stepped up Sunday, February 20, pressures on the increasingly isolated Togo's new military-installed leader to step down, with the opposition vowing non-stop demonstrations.

“Faure Gnassingbe and those who support him carry responsibility for their country's isolation”, Louis Michel, the EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, was quoted by Agence France Presse.

“I exhort them to restore constitutional order without delay,” said the high-level European official.

Michel stressed that Gnassingbe's insistence on staying in power until presidential elections are held two months from now “puts Togo in a situation of splitting from the international community.”

A European Union source in Brussels told AFP that EU sanction on Togo “seem inevitable” unless the military-installed leader backs down.

Faure, favored son of Togo strongman Gnassingbe Eyadema, was installed by the army to take over following the death of his father on February 5.

The parliament appointed him as its speaker, then extended the interim president's term from 60 days until 2008, when his father’s term in office was to expire.

Tough Sanctions

The European criticism came a day after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to suspend Togo's membership in the regional grouping, impose an arms embargo and ban the former French colony's leaders from traveling in the region.

The ECOWAS touch stance was strongly welcomed by the Bush administration, which stopped its military assistance to the west African country, saying it does not recognize the new regime.

“The United States has ended all military assistance to Togo,” US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was quoted as saying by the BBC News Online.

“We are reviewing all aspects of our relationship,” he added.

France, for its part, called for a quick restoration of “full constitutional legality” in its former colony, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Paris also pressed for “free, democratic and transparent” presidential and legislative elections “within the time limits stipulated by the Togolese constitution.”

However, the Togolese government remained adamant.

“We prefer to have sanctions and be in peace and stability rather than descending towards civil war,” Foreign Minister Kokou Tozoun told Reuters.

More Protests

The international pressures were welcomed by Togo's main opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio who vowed to continue demonstrations to force Gnassingbe to step down.

“It looks as if things will point in the right direction but we are not giving up,” he told Reuters from Paris where he has lived since a 1992 attempt to assassinate him.

“We are going to continue demonstrations ... until this Gnassingbe son leaves power,” Olympio said.

“Nobody is going to have elections organized by Gnassingbe. Everybody has ruled it out.”

On Saturday, an estimated 25,000 people gathered in the opposition stronghold neighborhood of Be, demanding Gnassingbe resignation.

They pledged to  stage a massive demonstration on Wednesday and then every Saturday until their demands are met.