The crisis in Mali which broke out on March 22 after the military junta led by captain Amadou Sanogo took over power, aroused a firm reaction from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Under the leadership of the Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara, the current president of this regional block, ECOWAS expressed its determination since the first hours of the announcement of the coup d'etat, to ensure a return of constitutional order in Mali.

"It was a matter of urgency for ECOWAS to take measures to ensure that the belligerents stop hostilities and that constitutional order is restored," the Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole told the press when he was speaking on behalf of the mediator in the Malian crisis, Blaise Compaore, the Burkina Faso president.

THE FORCE OF PRESSURE AND SANCTIONS

The continued pressure and imposition of sanctions with a total "embargo" declared by the regional block on Mali helped to force the soldiers who had carried out the coup d'etat to rethink their position and hand over power to the civilian authority led by the Speaker of Malian Parliament Dioncounda Traore who was officially sworn in on Thursday after signing an agreement with the junta.

However, this was not the end of the challenges that ECOWAS is faced with in Mali. The regional organization is also supposed to come up with strategies to tackle the problem of Touareg rebels who have occupied the northern parts of the country.

"We will have to deal with the crisis in northern Mali either through negotiations with the rebels or we will have to fight them militarily," Bassole said.

Under the perspective of a military intervention by ECOWAS, meetings of the military chiefs from the region have already been held to discuss this possibility.

A meeting of foreign ministers from this West African sub- region that was held on Wednesday and Thursday in Abijdan, equally agreed on the need to effectively resolve the Malian crisis.

"We cannot remain silent in the face of this situation. The takeover of towns in northern Mali by Touareg rebels is unacceptable for ECOWAS. This is why the regional block plans to boost the capacities of its forces with a view of tackling any eventuality," said Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, the president of the ECOWAS Commission.

ANOTHER CRISIS EMERGES IN GUINEA-BISSAU

No sooner had the West African leaders concluded discussions on how to resolve the Malian crisis, than another attempted coup d'etat was reported in Guinea-Bissau, again putting the capabilities of ECOWAS to test.

According to some political observers, the sub-regional organization has been put to severe test with the multiplicity of crises.

"We noted that it promptly condemned the coup d'etat in Mali and it has kept the same spirit of condemnation of the recent attempted coup d'etat in Guinea-Bissau," said Justine Kieffoloh, the executive secretary for the Citizens Movement for Peace (MCP).

The president of the sub-regional organization's Mediation and Security Committee who is also Cote d'Ivoire's Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan said that the crises in Mali and Guinea Bissau are a threat to democracy.

"It's sad that after Mali, we are hearing of another coup d'etat in Guinea Bissau," Duncan said while strongly condemning the coup d'etat.

The Malian crisis had a positive outcome with the withdrawal from power of the military junta for the benefit of the civilian authority which officially began exercising its authority on Thursday.

However, a crisis still exists in Guinea-Bissau after a group of soldiers occupied the national radio station and attacked the residence of the Prime Minister Carlos Gomez Junior.

ECOWAS was created in 1975 with the objective of promoting cooperation and integration among its member states who include Mali and Guinea Bissau.