Togo's leader Faure Gnassingbe has decided to step down as president of the West African country, bowing to massive international pressure to quit. The resignation came hours after the African Union had suspended Togo on Friday in the latest blow to Gnassingbe. Shortly after Gnassingbe's announcement, Abass Bonfoh was elected chairman of Togo's national assembly and took over as the country's interim president. A special session of the national assembly elected Bonfoh, the sole candidate, by 57 votes to four with one abstention to replace Gnassingbe. African leaders, European officials and the United States had all urged Gnassingbe to quit since he was appointed president by Togo's powerful army soon after his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema died on 5 February, ending his 38-year rule. Under Togo's constitution, the head of the national assembly should have become the acting president on the death of Eyadema. But the army named Gnassingbe president and Togo's national assembly elected Gnassingbe as its head making him the legal interim president.