Mali

A summit of Western African leaders has called for a national unity government to end the political crisis gripping Mali since a military coup in March. The regional bloc, Ecowas, also urged Mali to request international military intervention to win back the country's rebel-held north. The area was seized by Islamist and Tuareg rebels after the March coup.

Abdramane Keita, managing editor of privately-owned bi-weekly L’Aurore newspaper was on the night of 2 July 2012 violently attacked by unknown armed men in the capital Bamako, accusing him of causing confusion in the country. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that Keita’s assailants abducted him the same night and abandoned him at Senou, a town located in Bamako after seizing all his possessions including an unspecified amount of money.

Six west African leaders have called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate 'war crimes' in northern Mali, in a statement issued at the end of a summit on the crisis there. Over the past week, armed Islamist fighters have descended on cemeteries holding the remains of Timbuktu's Sufi saints, systematically destroying its six most famous tombs, in actions decribed by the ICC as possible war crimes.

The international community on Tuesday 3 July weighed options to help embattled Mali save its north from Islamist fighters who have smashed ancient shrines in Timbuktu and rigged another city with landmines. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc says it has 3,300 troops ready to enter Mali, whose vast north has been occupied by armed rebels for three months after a 22 March coup plunged the nation into chaos.

Touareg rebels in northern Mali entered into talks with regional mediators for the first time last week, expressing a willingness to engage in dialogue with the international community. A delegation from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) led by Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh met Burkinabe President and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) mediator Blaise Compaoré for the first time on Saturday (9 June) in Ouagadougou.

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