An envoy from West Africa's regional bloc left Mali on Friday, officials said, after inconclusive talks with the military junta over restoring civilian rule in the fragile Sahel state.

Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, representing the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), landed in Mali the previous day to meet senior junta figures.

The visit came amid pressure on the ruling army -- which seized power in 2020 -- to set a date for elections in Mali.

An ECOWAS diplomat, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the delegation "did not leave with an election timetable."

Representatives from the West Africa bloc are due to return to Mali in several weeks, the diplomat added, to resume talks.

A Malian diplomat, who also declined to be named, said "it was not possible" to set an election date during the talks.

Mali's junta has so far resisted international pressure to swiftly restore civilian rule, backing away from an earlier commitment to hold a vote by the end of February 2022.

Last month, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on the country, including a trade embargo, over delayed elections.

On Monday, the country's army-dominated legislature also approved a bill allowing the junta to rule for up to five years.

Jonathan urged Mali to transition towards democracy as soon as possible the following day, describing the country's government as an "aberration".

Over one hundred people rallied in Mali's capital Bamako to support the junta on Friday, AFP journalists said.

Much of Mali, a vast nation of 21 million people, is plagued by a jihadist conflict that first emerged in 2012 before spreading to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.

Former colonial power France has thousands of troops deployed across the Sahel, with the majority in Mali. However, Paris announced this month that it would pull troops out of Mali after a breakdown in relations with the junta.

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Burkina junta-created panel proposes 30-month transition
Ouagadougou (AFP) Feb 24, 2022
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