West African leaders seek end to Mali political crisis

By Tiemoko Diallo
BAMAKO, July 23 (Reuters) - Presidents from five West
African countries arrive in Mali on Thursday to try to negotiate
an end to a political crisis that has rocked the country and
raised fears it could undermine a regional fight against
Islamist militants.
Infuriated by corruption, disputed local election results
and army losses to jihadists, tens of thousands of people have
taken to the streets, sparking clashes with police in which the
United Nations says at least 14 protesters have died this month.
The opposition, a group called M5-RFP whose figurehead is
Saudi-trained Muslim cleric Mahmoud Dicko, has said it will not
quit until President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita steps down, raising
concerns in neighbouring countries of a protracted crisis.
"M5-RFP demands the resignation of Keita or the satisfaction
of our demands," which include the establishment of a committee
of inquiry into civilian deaths and a transitional government,
the group's spokeman Nouhoum Togo told Reuters on Thursday.
The leaders of Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana and
Niger will meet with Keita and then Dicko and other opposition
leaders at a hotel in the capital Bamako, according to the
mission schedule.
The leaders are expected to make a statement before
departing early in the evening.
They are acutely aware of the danger a destabilised Mali
poses. The landlocked, semi-desert state has been used as a
launch pad for groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State to
attack neighbouring countries including Niger and Burkina Faso.
Still, reaching a solution in such a short space of time
will not be easy. Public opposition to Keita hardened after
protesters were killed by police in early July.
The M5-RFP rejected mediation measures proposed by a mission
from the West African ECOWAS bloc last week, prompting the
presidential mission.