Mali requests military assistance to free north from Islamists

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - Mali's interim leader has made a formal request to west African regional body ECOWAS for military assistance to help free the country's north, which has been occupied since April by Islamists, France's special representative for the Sahel said on Tuesday.

Jean Felix-Paganon said he was informed of the decision during a meeting with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who chairs the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

"President Ouattara informed us that President (Dioncounda) Traore had formally sent a request to ECOWAS for military assistance to stabilise the country and especially to the reconquer the north," Felix-Paganon told journalists in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

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