Mali hit by AU sanctions

The African Union on Tuesday said it was imposing sanctions on the group of military leaders that took power in Mali in a coup last month, calling for a swift return to constitutional order.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said the sanctions were also aimed at "leaders and members of the armed and rebel groups in northern Mali." Separatist Tuareg rebels have captured three major cities in the country's north, which they refer to as Azawad.

The 54-member AU "imposed, with immediate effect, individual measures including a travel ban and asset freeze against the leader and members of the military junta as well as against all individuals and entities contributing in one way or another the maintenance of the unconstitutional status quo," Lamamra told reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

He added that the body had collaborated with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to determine precisely whom to name in the restrictions. ECOWAS imposed a complete embargo on Mali on Monday, closing borders to the landlocked country and freezing access to its account at the regional bank.

Renegade soldiers took control of Mali on March 21, ousting democratically elected President Amadou Toumai Toure. Coup leader Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo said in the Malian capital he would restore constitutional order, but only after a convention to be held on Thursday to determine "what will be best for the country in a consensual, democratic fashion."

"Yes to the return to a constitutional order, but with a new Mali," he said. "Our Mali is sick in the depths of her being ... To this effect, we invite the entire political class and all the actors of society to come without exception to the national convention."

acb/mz (AFP, Reuters)