{{West African bloc Ecowas said Sunday it will hold a special summit in Dakar on October 25 focused on the region’s economy and recent political crises.}}<\/p>\n
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States said the economy would top the agenda, but also singled out as priorities the situations in Mali and Guinea-Bissau and the threat of post-electoral crisis in Guinea.<\/p>\n
The regional bloc will also consider contributing more troops to the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) following a surge in Islamist attacks there.<\/p>\n
MINUSMA is meant to eventually reach 12,640 troops and police. At the end of July it had just over 6,000 but Nigerian and some Chadian troops have since withdrawn.<\/p>\n
French troops entered Mali in January to halt an advance on the capital Bamako by Al-Qaeda linked Islamist troops and allied Tuareg rebels. It plans to reduce its presence from 3,000 troops today to 1,000 by the end of January 2014.<\/p>\n
Legislative elections are due to take place in Mali on November 24, after Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected as president.<\/p>\n
Leaders at the summit will also call for calm in Guinea, where the opposition has said it will take its claims of election fraud to the country’s Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Guinea-Bissau, where Ecowas also has troops, is another source of concern for the west African leaders.<\/p>\n
After a military coup in 2012, a caretaker regime is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on November 24.<\/p>\n
wirestory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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