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| - The UN, European Union, African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS have appealed for restraint in Mali after a deepening political crisis spiralled into bloodshed. In a statement issued overnight Sunday, representatives of the four groups in the Malian capital Bamako said they were very concerned, and hit out at "any form of violence as a means of crisis resolution." They attacked the use of lethal force by the security forces and urged dialogue, but warned that the arrest of protest leaders was an obstacle to this. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 75, is facing a mounting wave of protests sparked by the outcome of a long-delayed parliamentary poll, but whose underlying causes include discontent over his handling of Mali's jihadist insurgency. Eleven people have died and 124 have been injured since Friday, according to a senior official at an emergency department of a major hospital in Bamako. The demonstrations are being driven by a disparate group of religious leaders, political and civil society members. They have called for "civil disobedience", including non-payment of fines and blocking entry to state buildings. Mali's European allies and neighbours are deeply concerned at the escalating crisis, given the country's poverty, ethnic mix and strategic location at the heart of the Sahel. The four-party statement voiced support for proposals put forward by ECOWAS, the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States of which Mali is a member. The proposals call for a "consensus government of national union" and for fresh elections in constituencies whose provisional results, in the March-April elections, had been annulled by the Constitutional Court, enabling several members of Keita's party to be elected. bur-lal/jhd/ri/ach
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