[ 2012-07-07 ]

West African bloc seeks unity government for Mali
Compaore (R), a mediator for the ECOWAS, will
preside over the talks. By Ahmed Ouaba (AFP)
OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - West African leaders meet in
Burkina Faso on Saturday with civil leaders from
Mali amid moves to create a government of national
unity to tackle a crisis in the north where
Islamists have enforced sharia law.

Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, a mediator
for the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS), will preside over the talks in
Ouagadougou with six other regional leaders but
with Mali's leaders notable by their absence.

Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore has
been receiving medical care in Paris since being
attacked in his office in May and will not be
attending.

An official in Mali's national assembly said
Thursday that Traore's decision not to attend the
Ouagadougou talks had less to do with his
condition than with perceptions in his home
country, where he has not returned since the
incident.

Renegade soldiers toppled the elected president on
March 22 but, under intense regional and
international pressure, later agreed to hand power
back to a civilian administration.

Traore was attacked by a group of people backing
the coup.

There was no reason given for the absence of Prime
Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra, though his
relations with ECOWAS have been strained as the
regional grouping looks for a more "inclusive"
government in Mali.

The Popular Movement of 22 March (MP 22), which
supports the coup of March 22, also announced it
would not participate in Saturday's meeting in
Ouagadougou.

Mali has continued its descent into chaos since
then and is de facto split in two, with Islamist
groups linked to Al-Qaeda controlling the north, a
territory larger than France or Texas.

For ECOWAS the urgent priority is to reinforce and
stabilise Mali's transitional authorities in order
to handle the crisis in the north.

The option of a military intervention by a
regional force in order to restore the country's
territorial integrity is also on the table, though
such a move would require the UN's blessing.

The UN Security Council on Thursday passed a
resolution calling for sanctions against
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters blamed for the
desecration of the tombs of Muslim saints.

The council expressed "deep concern" at the
increased terrorist threat in the north due to the
presence of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
fighters. The group has been blamed for
kidnappings and attacks in several west and north
African countries.

But the council held back from giving a UN mandate
to any West African force to help the interim
government to take back territory from the
Islamist rebels in the north.

Source - AFP

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