Mali talks on post-coup transition government wrapping up
BAMAKO, Mali — Days of consultations to map out Mali’s transition to a civilian government will conclude Saturday, though transition leaders won’t be decided upon until next week. The leaders of the military junta that deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last month led talks with some 300 political party and civil society leaders in an effort to map out a way forward for the unstable West African nation. It’s likely the transition will be led by a civilian, with strong military presence in the other positions of power, said Baba Dakono, a researcher with the Institute for Security Studies who is closely following the talks. “We must nevertheless expect a civilian very close to the junta who will lead this transition,” he said, adding that it’s likely other civilian participants will have links to the opposition coalition M5-RFP that held huge anti-government protests for weeks before the coup. The 15-nation West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has warned the j