Mali junta doesn't give timeline as sanctions loom

[March 30, 2012]  BAMAKO, Mali (AP) -- The junior officer who grabbed power in a coup says he plans to hold free elections and to rapidly return Mali to its established order, but refused to give a timetable even as neighboring countries prepare to enact severe financial sanctions.

The coup leader, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, told reporters Friday that he "understands" the position of the West Africa regional body, which has given the junta 72 hours to step aside before it will seal off its borders and cut off the country's access to the regional central bank.

Sanogo asked the regional body to support him, saying the junta seized control of the country with the plan of "holding a rapid process of normalization and organizing free and transparent elections."

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

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BAMAKO, Mali (AP) -- Lines of people 50 deep have formed outside bank branches in Mali's capital as panic spreads following the threat of financial sanctions by the regional body representing nations in West Africa.

At the Ecobank branch in Bamako's Niarela neighborhood, bank patrons were told on Friday they could withdraw a maximum of $1,000 per person.

The Economic Community of West African States has said it will freeze Mali's access to the regional central bank as early as Monday if the military junta that seized power in last week's coup doesn't immediately hand the country back to the civilian rulers. The military takeover disrupted over 20 years of democratic rule in one of the few established democracies in the western corner of Africa.

[Associated Press]

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