Mali coup: deal begins transition back to civilian rule The statement, signed by coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo and three mediators, said Mali's parliament speaker Diouncounda Traore would be sworn in as interim president with a mission to organise elections in 40 days. ECOWAS chief Alassane Ouattara said the sanctions should be lifted "immediately," Burkina Faso's Djibrill Bassole told public television station ORTM. He was speaking at Kati near Bamako, the headquarters of Captain Sanogo, who read out the accord signed with the Economic Community of West African States. On April 2 ECOWAS had decided to clamp an embargo on Mali, a north African country of 15 million inhabitants. The embargo included the closing of all borders of ECOWAS states with Mali except for humanitarian reasons, closing to Mali access to ECOWAS ports, and the freezing of Malian bank accounts.