UN calls on Mali ruling junta to announce election timetable

Mali coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • In a sharp escalation after months of diplomatic tensions, Ecowas last week agreed to shutter borders with the Sahel state and impose a trade embargo.
  • The move came after Mali's interim government proposed staying in power for up to five years before staging elections, defying international demands that it respect a promise to hold elections on February 27.