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16 May, 2012 - 19:25

Mali leader heads to Abidjan for talks amid crisis

Ivory Coast president president and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) chairman Alassane Ouattara (R) and Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore (L) give a press conference after a meeting at the presidential palace in Abidjan. Traore rejected a proposal by a former junta which staged a coup in March for a national convention to choose a caretaker head of state. data/files/photo_1337199940106-1-0.jpg

Mali's interim leader Dioncounda Traore will hold talks with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara Wednesday, as a post-coup political crisis drags on in his country, officials said.

"The president will go to Abidjan this afternoon for consultations," said a source from Traore's communication team.

The Ivorian presidency said the two leaders would meet at 1700 GMT.

Ouattara is the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has being trying to break a political impasse over who should lead a transition government in Mali.

A group of low-ranking soldiers who seized power on March 22, led by Captain Amadou Sanogo, accepted an interim government, but have resisted a return to the barracks.

Sanogo is sticking to a constitutional point that the interim government should last only 40 days (thus expiring May 22), and has rejected the ECOWAS plan for a 12-month transition.

The regional mediators want Traore to stay in the post and the ex-junta wants to go back to the drawing board.

A source in Traore's camp said his trip to Abidjan comes a day after he met with Sanogo at the ex-junta's headquarters.