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ECOWAS agrees on 3,300-strong force for Mali
However, ECOWAS Commission President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo has said the bloc should pursue a dual approach of dialogue and military pressure.
Some analysts have questioned whether a negotiated solution is possible with Islamist extremists intent on establishing a theocratic state.
Mali rapidly imploded after a coup in Bamako in March allowed Tuareg desert nomads, who had relaunched a decades-old rebellion for independence, to seize the main towns in the north with the help of Islamist allies.
The secular separatists were quickly sidelined by the Islamists, who had little interest in their aspirations for an independent homeland.
They set about implementing their version of strict sharia law, meting out punishments including stonings and destroying World Heritage shrines.
