President Mills on Friday returned home from a crisis meeting in Senegal called by the leadership of ECOWAS to find a permanent solution to the political instability in both Guinea Bissau and Mali.

The two West African countries have been rocked by military coups.

A proposed standby force by ECOWAS is still on the table but the sub-regional group is yet to decide when to activate the military option.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Chris Kpodo who was with the president told the media the meeting agreed to keep existing sanctions in place until the situation normalizes.

"The authority also decided that ECOWAS standby force in line with the new approved mandate shall be deployed to secure the withdrawal of the Angolan technical assistance mission from Guinea Bissau and to ensure the security of the transition and help in the implementation of the defence and security sector reform programme,' the deputy minister said.

He said the ECOWAS commission has also been directed to seek the assistance of the AU and the UN for the implementation of the measures to be taken in Guinea Bissau.