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Mali: ECOWAS issues ultimatum to Junta – threatens sanctions
“I think the banks are going to close because ECOWAS took a decision to impose sanctions on Mali. It’s important that we managed to get a little bit of money out before that happens,” Kante said. “I’m happy with this decision though because it will mean that the junta has to leave. If they don’t leave, the population is going to rise up against them.”
In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where the regional body met to issue its threat of sanctions on Thursday, a senior advisor to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the captain’s reaction is “basically the equivalent of telling us (expletive) you.'” The official who could not be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said that ECOWAS would go ahead with the sanctions as early as Monday unless “we see a dramatic turnaround by the junta.”
The sanctions are likely to suffocate Mali’s economy. The country imports its petroleum products from nearby Ivory Coast. With the border sealed, the country could run out of gasoline within weeks or even days.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
