The Alliance of Patriotic Democrats for Ending the Crisis (ADPS) and the United Front for Democracy and the Republic (FDR, anti-coup d'etat), on Thursday urged the Malian government to immediately come up with mechanisms to liberate the northern zones which are occupied by rebels.

The ADPS and the FDR issued a press statement in which they "expressed their indignation over the criminal acts that were being perpetrated by the jihadist and terrorist groups in northern Mali."

"The ADPS and the FDR want to strongly condemn the acts of stoning, flogging, amputations and rape and urges the government to take urgent and necessary measures to seek and punish all those who were responsible for these crimes," the statement said.

The two parties asked the government to ensure that all occupied zones are recovered and they expressed their attachment to Mali's territorial integrity.

The ADPS and FDR further expressed their support for the move by the country's President Dioncounda Traore to engage in extensive dialogue with other stakeholders, as he indicated in his speech to the nation on July 29, 2012.

They noted in their statement that the said consultations had "led to the cooling of the political and social tensions; revival of the process to reflect on how to end the crisis and had also brought together all social and political actors in the country."

The two parties urged the president to speed up the ongoing process of setting up an inclusive government as recommended by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) during its summit that was held on July 7 in Ouagadougou.