West African leaders signal they oppose Mali junta extension

By FRANCIS KOKUTSE and KRISTA LARSON
Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — West African leaders are signaling they won’t support a move by Mali’s military rulers to extend their time in power by four years. The junta that seized power in Mali in 2020 had promised to hold new democratic elections by the end of February. Now they’re saying that won’t be possible because of the deepening security threats posed by Islamic extremist groups in the West African country. Malian authorities put out their own revised timetable earlier this month that pushed back presidential elections until 2026 and an end to the political transition only in 2017. They’ve now revised that to a four-year extension but Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said Sunday that plan “is of concern to the entire West African region.”