Mali coup leader to get benefits of former head of state

Bamako, 21 May - (ANA) - West Africa's regional bloc Ecowas has agreed a deal for Mali's coup leader Capt Amadou Sanogo to get the benefits of a former head of state. These include a salary, a residence and state bodyguards. Under the deal, interim leader Djouncounda Traore will stay in office for a year - his initial mandate was to expire on Monday. Chief Ecowas mediator, Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibrill Bassole, also said the coup leader would be able to consult Mr Traore, 70, and his prime minister until new elections are held next year. Ivory Coast's Minister of African Integration Adama Bictogo told the AFP news agency that the mediation team was "leaving with the feeling that we have accomplished our mission". Capt Sanogo seized power in March and led the country for about three weeks, before handing power to Mr Traore, the former speaker of parliament, in the face of intense international pressure and the rapid advance of rebels, whose seized the whole of the north - an area the size of France. Bamako-based journalist Martin Vogl says that as part of the deal, the government is supposed to focus on recovering the north from a mixture of Tuareg separatists and Islamist fighters. (ANA)

FA/ANA/21 May 2012------------