An armed group in Mali that signed a major peace deal in 2015 said this week it was pulling out of efforts to draft a new constitution. The new constitution is a key part of a peace and reconciliation process designed to return the country from military to civilian rule by March 2024. The decision to go further and boycott the work of rewriting the constitution came just hours after Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop accused the armed groups of “hampering” efforts to put the peace process in place. The CMA repeated its request for a meeting with international mediators to discuss the viability of the peace deal, which it had said in December was close to breaking down. Under international pressure, the current military government has agreed to allow a return to civilian rule in March 2024.

Source: The Guardian January 29, 2023 01:29 UTC