The UN Security Council is poised to adopt a draft resolution paving the way for military intervention in Mali on Friday, French officials said.
West African leaders are growing ever more impatient with Mali’s political crisis, which has seen extremist rebels seize more than half its territory.
The Economic Community of West African States says it will probe the attack on Mali’s interim leader, threatening sanctions against those involved.
The chief negotiator for Ecowas says Mali’s junta has accepted that the current interim president will stay in office until new elections can be held.
Ecowas has imposed sanctions on Guinea-Bissau after talks with its ruling junta aimed at restoring constitutional order after a coup broke down.
Guinea-Bissau’s junta and opposition parties have pressed on with plans for a transition, despite international calls for a return to democracy.
The Guinea-Bissau army and opposition parties have agreed to set up a transitional body to run the country ahead of talks with regional powers.
Mali’s interim leader Dioncounda Traore has plenty to prepare for after ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure resigned as part of a deal with Ecowas.
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/ 17 February 2012
Ecowas has voted Côte d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara as its chairperson, just over a year after he won an election that sparked a four-month civil war.
President Goodluck Jonathan has considered enteingr the race for chairperson of the African Union after Gambia pulled out of the running this week.
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/ 25 November 2011
Yahya Jammeh scored a landslide win in presidential polls on Friday, securing a fourth term at the helm of the tiny state.
As African presidents met in Côte d’Ivoire to end the crisis, President Jacob Zuma was mobbed by angry youths to highlight their problems.
Côte d’Ivoire’s incumbent leader filed a lawsuit on Monday against Ecowas for recognising his rival as the winner of the country’s elections.
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/ 1 February 2011
A high-level panel named by the African Union faces an uphill battle in agreeing a unified stand on Côte d’Ivoire’s political crisis.
American President Barack Obama is expected to focus more on Africa in 2011. This comes none too soon, <b>Francis Kornegay</b>.
Nigeria called on the UN Security Council to authorise force in Côte d’Ivoire as West Africa seeks to further pressure strongman Laurent Gbagbo.
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/ 21 January 2011
Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan held talks on Friday with the prime minister of Côte d’Ivoire’s internationally recognised government.
The United Nations warns that violence is spreading across Côte d’Ivoire, far from the city where the country’s political rivals are squaring off.
West African nations want to resolve Côte d’Ivoire’s crisis peacefully, but a threat to use force remains valid if Laurent Gbagbo does not step down.
Supporters of Côte d’Ivoire’s internationally recognised president called on Sunday for another general strike to get incumbent Gbagbo to stand down.
Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo ended a day of mediation in Côte d’Ivoire’s crisis, saying he was optimistic it could be resolved.
Côte d’Ivoire strongman Laurent Gbagbo has defied a global avalanche of criticism, insisting he is the true president of his country.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday backed Alassane Ouattara as the winner of Côte d’Ivoire’s disputed November 28 presidential election.
Regional bodies, businesses and locals grappled with the political crisis enveloping Côte d’Ivoire with defeated Laurent Gbagbo refusing to step down.
Niger’s military plans to run the country until politicians agree on a new Constitution and are ready for fresh elections.
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/ 17 February 2010
A summit of West African leaders on Tuesday told politicians in Côte d’Ivoire to preserve peace after last week’s sacking of the Cabinet.
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/ 20 October 2009
Ecowas on Tuesday suspended Niger after President Mamadou Tandja went ahead with legislative elections despite calls to delay the vote.
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/ 13 October 2009
Nigeria’s president on Tuesday called for a summit of heads of state of Ecowas to find a solution for the political crises in Guinea and Niger.
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/ 27 October 2008
A West African court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery.