Ecowas has tried to persuade the military junta to support a plan to return to civilian rule.

It failed.

An attempt to agree on a three-year plan for a new democratic government in Mali seems to have been stopped by the military junta.

- We have agreed on several issues, but there are some where we have not been able to agree. In these cases, we have told the officers how we within Ecowas think and asked them to think about this, said Nigeria's former President Goodluck Jonathan, who led the Ecowas delegation.

Consult the people

Juntan spokesman Ismael Wague said it was still unclear how a transition from military rule would go, something that has been discussed with Ecowas envoys.

-We have not, at any time, discussed a government consisting of a majority of the military. All decisions regarding return (to civilian rule), transitional president and government formation will be made by Mali's residents, and this will only happen after "mass consultations", said Wague outside the Ministry of Defense in the capital Bamako where the discussions are taking place.

Ecowas and its delegation, led by Jonathan, want the military junta to clarify a clear return to civilian rule.

The military seized power in a coup that also seized 75-year-old President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. According to Ecowa's envoy, Keita does not want to take over the presidency.