Mali’s interim president meets regional mediator

Officials from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS met the head of Mali's military junta in the capital Bamako on Thursday ahead of the formation of a transitional government.

Mali's government television channel ORTM showed junta leader Assimi Goita and former defence minister Bah N'Daw in a meeting with ECOWAS mediator Goodluck Jonathan.

The transition government was named earlier this week and will be installed Friday.

N'Daw will be appointed transitional president while Goita will be the vice president.

The junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August, in a coup that was condemned internationally.

There has been widespread concern that the upheaval in Mali will set back efforts to contain the country’s growing Islamic insurgency.

After a similar coup in 2012, Islamic extremists grabbed control of major towns in northern Mali.