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| - West African leaders on Monday called for the swift creation of a unity government in Mali and a fresh vote after disputed elections, but warned of sanctions against those opposing efforts to end the country's crisis. In a statement issued after a video conference, heads of the 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS stood by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita but called for a unity government to be "established rapidly" and urged the opposition to join it. Ministers in charge of defence, justice, foreign affairs, national security and finance would be appointed before the unity government is created. The appeal came after weeks of protests and rising tension in the war-torn Sahel nation, alarming neighbours and allies who fear a spiral into chaos. But -- addressing demands by protestors that Keita quit -- leaders also said the country's democratic constitution had to be respected. They also envisaged "sanctions against all those who act contrary to the normalization process of the crisis." Keita, in power since 2013, is battling major problems on several fronts, including an eight-year-old jihadist revolt and a slumping economy. But much of Mali's current tension was sparked in April, when the Constitutional Court tossed out 31 results from long-delayed parliamentary elections, benefiting Keita's party and sparking protests. Tensions then ratcheted up into a crisis on July 10 when an anti-Keita rally organised by the June 5 Movement, a loose coalition of opposition groups and religious leaders, turned bloody. Eleven people died in clashes with security forces over several days -- in the worst bout of political unrest Mali has seen in years. Addressing the disputed election, Monday's summit called for the immediate resignation of the contested 31 MPs and the holding of by-elections in their constituencies. In the meantime, parliament could continue to operate with the 116 other MPs. The summit also called for an overhaul of the Constitutional Court, and for Keita to use his constitutional powers to nominate the nine members if this failed to make headway. The summit spelt out its support for a blueprint for compromise that ECOWAS drew up on July 19 only to see it rejected by the June 5 Movement. Five West African presidents pitched that plan during a one-day mediation mission to Mali on Thursday. The figurehead of the protest coalition, Mahmoud Dicko, fiercely rejected the proposals. "I would prefer to die as a martyr rather than die as a traitor," the Saudi-trained imam said at the time. "The young people who lost their lives (in the protests) did not lose them for nothing." Despite this failure, the summit swung its weight behind the original plan again. President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, who also currently heads ECOWAS, urged Malians to reject violence and to continue dialogue. But, he added, "We have also decided to support all the proposals made by the ECOWAS mediation." Successive rallies against Keita since last month have rattled the 75-year-old's grip, as he was already facing increasing pressure to end Mali's eight-year-old jihadist conflict. The impoverished nation of 20 million has lost thousands of lives, and hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes, despite the presence of French and UN troops. Mali is a member of ECOWAS, which has intervened in several crises in West Africa, notably in The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The other member-states are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. sd-siu/eml/ri
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