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West African Ecowas leaders impose Mali sanctions | West African Ecowas leaders impose Mali sanctions |
(about 1 hour later) | |
West African states are imposing immediate sanctions on Mali, Ivory Coast's president has announced. | |
Alassane Ouattara, current head of regional body Ecowas, said it had closed borders to trade and frozen Mali's access to bank accounts. | |
The group had given the leaders of the country's military coup until Monday to step down. | |
Correspondents say the poor, landlocked country would struggle to survive an economic blockade. | Correspondents say the poor, landlocked country would struggle to survive an economic blockade. |
Mali is almost entirely dependent on its Ecowas neighbours for trade. It also shares its currency with seven other regional countries - and other members of the CFA franc zone have said they will cut transfers to Mali's banks. | |
President Ouattara said: "All diplomatic, economic, financial measures and others are applicable from today [Monday] and will not be lifted until the reestablishment of constitutional order." | |
He added that Ecowas' military force had been put on standby. | |
'Blow to democracy' | |
Mali's neighbours are keen for order to be restored in the country. | |
"The situation in Mali is extremely serious, it is a blow to democracy and an attack on the territorial integrity of this country," Mr Ouattara said. | |
The army said it had staged its coup because the campaign against the Tuareg rebels - who are fighting for an autonomous region in the north of Mali - had been poorly run. | |
But the Tuareg took advantage of the political situation over the weekend by seizing the key towns of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal. | |
Coup leader Capt Amadou Sanogo has said the army is not leaving power, but has promised to consult local political forces to set up a transition body "with the aim of organising peaceful, free, open and democratic elections in which we will not take part". | |
The coup and Tuareg rebellion have exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in Mali and some neighbouring countries, with aid agencies warning that 13 million people need food aid. |