Crowds protest sanctions, pressure, after Mali vote delay

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Tens of thousands have joined in a government-sponsored rally in Mali’s capital to protest new regional economic sanctions and growing pressure from former colonizer France, after Mali's military ruler pushed back promised elections by four years.

Friday's demonstration at Bamako's Independence Square drew Mali's prime minister and other ministers in the transitional government, which is headed by Col. Assimi Goita, who installed himself as president following a second military coup last year.

Demonstrators shouted: “Down with imperialism, down with ECOWAS, down with France.”

West Africa's 15-nation ECOWAS regional bloc imposed tougher economic sanctions on Mali last Sunday, saying the transitional government had failed to make progress toward holding a presidential election as promised by the end of February — 18 months after Mali's first coup led by Goita.

While previous sanctions had targeted members of the ruling junta and their families, the new measures effectively freeze the Republic of Mali's assets in commercial banks. Most ECOWAS members also have stopped all air traffic to and from Bamako, though Mali has found an ally in neighboring Guinea — also led by a military coup leader.

Air France too has halted traffic to Bamako, and those who have opposed France's military role in Mali over the past nine years also accused the former regional colonial ruler of orchestrating some of the harsh ECOWAS response. France maintains strong economic and military ties with many of Mali's neighbors more than 60 years after colonial rule ended in West Africa.

“These sanctions will have no consequences for Mali. France has betrayed us and we call on our authorities to break off diplomatic relations with France,” said Jamille Bittar, a Malian politician who...