As the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is preparing to lift sanctions against post-coup Mali, the bloc's military leaders are considering intervening to help the country restore peace.

Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole said Thursday that the ECOWAS sanctions against Mali "will be suspended, but fully lifted and abandoned soon."

Bassole made the remarks after meeting with his counterparts from Cote d'Ivoire and Niger, and the captain of the military junta Amadou Sanogo.

"We will make every effort to ensure that the sanctions be suspended, but fully lifted and abandoned soon," he said, adding "we are on the way."

Also, he said the captain and his comrades are now able to help the situation return to normal in order to reconnect with the international community and ECOWAS.

He said the captain would soon make announcements.

Meanwhile, ECOWAS generals also met in an emergency meeting Thursday in Abidjan to discuss a military intervention plan to help Mali restore peace and security as soon as possible.

Cote d'Ivoire's Deputy Defense Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said at the opening session of the meeting that the intervention should aim at restoring constitutional rule in the country and resisting the advance of the rebels in the north.

He asked the army chiefs of the 15 nations in West Africa to draft a detailed plan, including how many troops each intends to send, how quickly they could have them ready and what logistical means they plan to contribute.

ECOWAS has already ordered a 2,000-strong force to stand by for a possible intervention in Mali, where a rebel army has seized the country's northern half after a coup.

Also on Thursday, the National Committee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the State (CNRDRE), a junta, called on the Malian people to resist the invasion of rebel groups in the north and other extremist assailants.

The junta, which overthrew the Malian government on March 22, "expresses solidarity with the Malian people sequestered on Malian territory invaded by rebel groups and other extremist assailants," according to a signed statement from CNRDRE spokesman Lieutenant Amadou Konare.

The junta urged people to resist and pledged the state would do everything possible as soon as possible to ensure their safety, said the statement.

Furthermore, the junta expressed deep concern over the kidnapping of Algerian diplomats in Gao Thursday, and strongly condemned such acts that endanger lives and the excellent relations between Mali and Algeria.

It warned the kidnappers against any threat to their victims, and called for regional action to safeguard the territorial integrity, stability and development in Mali as well as in Africa's Sahel-Saharan region, said the statement.

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) Thursday also condemned the abduction of Algerian diplomats and all acts of vandalism and attacks against civilians in the liberated cities, according to a statement posted on the rebel website www. mnlamov.net.

The MNLA said late Wednesday that it had decided to end its military operations as of Thursday, days after the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA captured Mali's important northern towns of Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao.