PARIS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - France's foreign minister said on
Thursday that the transition in Mali needs to be quick, but that
the coup d'etat in the country would not stop French military
operations targeting Islamist militants.
The leaders of the military coup that ousted President
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Mali on Aug. 18 have told a delegation
of West African mediators that they want to stay in power for a
three-year transition period, Nigeria said on Wednesday.
"The transition must be done quickly, power returned to
civilians and that there is a political agenda put in place to
allow this country to find a political stability," Jean-Yves Le
Drian told RTL radio.
He said the West African mediation had to be concluded
quickly to restore some stability because it that was
indispensable to continue the fight against Islamist militants.
Former colonial power France has some 5,100 troops in the
Sahel region with a large portion operating from Mali, where it
intervened in 2013 to stop an Islamist militant advance on the
capital Bamako.
"(The French operation) will continue," Le Drian said. "This
battle continues. The Junta say the same thing."