ECOWAS "diplomatic solutions" to Mali crisis "failed": UN team

A UN Security Council delegation on a visit to Cote d'Ivoire says the "diplomatic solutions" initiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore constitutional order in Mali have "failed."

"It appears as if the ECOWAS efforts to find diplomatic solutions have failed and the process is in considerable danger given the recent events in Mali," the French ambassador to the UN, Georges Araud, told a press conference held in Abidjan after a meeting between ECOWAS and the UN delegation on Monday.

Protesters loyal to the Malian military junta on Monday demanded the departure of interim president Dioncounda Traore and injured him seriously in an attack on his residence.

This assault came after the signing of an agreement between ECOWAS and the junta, designating Traore as the transitional president for a period of 12 months.

Araud proposed "need to look for other ways to resolve the Malian political crisis."

The French diplomat and Togolese Ambassador Kodjo Menan heading the UN delegation arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on Sunday for a three- day visit to evaluate the situation in the West African country since President Alassane Ouattara came to power.

Cote d'Ivoire's Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan told the press conference, "ECOWAS will not accept such an act," promising that the West African body would soon issue a statement on the attack on Mali's transitional president.

Ouattara holds the presidency of the 15-member bloc ECOWAS, which includes Mali and Guinea-Bissau, which were hit by a military coup respectively on March 22 and April 12.