Mali Crisis: ECOWAS Leaders Hold Virtual Summit

Leaders from West Africa countries have started a virtual summit over the political crisis in Mali, after two efforts at ending the crisis, this month ended inconclusively.

The aim of the summit between the countries in the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States is to discuss how to defuse the tensions between the opposition and Mali President, Ibrahim Keita.

The call for the resignation of the Mali President on July 10 led to the death of eleven people, which happens to be the worth political unrest in the country in years.

The country has been strugglings with attacks which has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee from their homes since 2012, despite the presence of foreign troops.

The latest attack, saw a French soldier killed and two others were wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in northern Mali on Thursday, according to France’s presidency and the French army.

The political unrest in the country started in April when a court in the country cancelled 31 results from the parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita’s party and sparking protests.

Tensions then ratcheted up into a crisis on July 10 when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement turned violent.

Three days of clashes between protesters and security forces left 11 dead and 158 injured in the worst political unrest Mali had seen in years.

The leaders who are working on a way of resolving the crisis suggested forming a new unity government including opposition members and appointing new constitutional court judges who could potentially re-examine disputed election results.

But the June 5 Movement had already rejected any outcome that did not involve Keita’s departure.