Mali's embattled president faces more opposition protests

A major Malian opposition leader Imam Mahmoud Dicko has intensified calls for a mass anti-government protest on Friday; despite the Presidents latest commitment to initiate talks on establishing a unity government.

The influential cleric and his group accused President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of ignoring tens of thousands of people who had protested on June 5, demanding his resignation.

“May God help us, as we prepare for this Friday’s gathering, may it be held in peace, may it be a gathering among gatherings. This Friday’s rally will be one of the most important,” he told teeming supporters.

The June 5 rally in Bamako brought together religious leaders as well as figures from the country’s civil society to demand the resignation of the president.

The embattled president has been under pressure to solve a spiralling security crisis, which first broke out in the north of the Sahel country in 2012.

Keita announced on Tuesday that he would hold talks on establishing a unity government, a move which appears fruitless analysts say.