Mali's ex-junta delegation to meet ECOWAS

[iolsa]

Ouagadougou - West African bloc ECOWAS mediator Blaise Compaore will meet on Monday a delegation dispatched by the former junta that had seized power in Mali, Burkina Faso's foreign minister said on Sunday.

The delegation sent by Amadou Haya Sanogo - the Malian captain who led the coup, "will be received tomorrow by (Burkina Faso's) President Compaore", Djibrill Bassole told AFP.

Sanogo on Saturday rejected a decision by the Economic Community  of West African States (ECOWAS) to send troops as well as set a 12-month transition until presidential and legislative elections.

As political and military officials were continuing to be arrested in Mali, ECOWAS "heads of states doubted the willingness of the junta to return to the ranks - that's why they took such a hardline position", said a source close to the mediators.

Sanogo had led a group of renegade soldiers who toppled Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22, shattering the landlocked country's image as a democratic success story in the region.

Under diplomatic pressure from Mali's partners and military pressure from an advancing rebellion in northern Mali, Sanogo agreed to hand power over to Dioncounda Traore, the former parliament speaker, who was sworn in as interim president on April 12. - Sapa-AFP



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