Senegal: President Faye says Mali 'not inflexible' on ECOWAS

Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has held talks with Mali's leader Col. Assimi Goita in the Malian capital Bamako, Thursday.

Earlier this year Goita, who took power in a coup, announced Mali's withdrawal from ECOWAS.

Faye, who was in Bamako to discuss cooperation between Mali and Senegal and to talk about Mali's membership of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), said: "I understand Mali's position, which, although rigid, is not totally inflexible."

"But we think that, at least from my point of view, we must continue to work with all the parties involved. We must not be discouraged; we must find happy ways to strengthen integration."

The visit to Mali is the first leg of a journey that will take Faye to Burkina Faso, another Sahelian country which, like Mali, faces the threat of armed terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda, and is ruled by another military junta following a coup d'état.

Faye's recent election pledge was to bring Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger back into the ECOWAS regional bloc.