Mali expels envoy of West Africa’s 15-nation regional bloc

By BABA AHMED
Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s transitional government has ordered an envoy of the 15-nation West African regional bloc to leave the country within 72 hours because of actions “incompatible with his status.”  The Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, is pressing Mali’s transitional leader Col. Assimi Goita, who seized power in a coup in August 2020, to respect his pledge to hold presidential and legislative elections in February 2022. The group threatens sanctions against Mali if elections are not held by that date. Goita’s government on Monday declared the ECOWAS special representative, Hamidou Boly,  “persona non grata” and ordered him to leave the country.