Imam Mahmoud Dicko arrives to deliver a speech during a ceremony hosted by him and his organization, CMAS (Coordination of movements and associations sympathetic to Imam Mahmoud Dicko), in Bamako on Aug 28, 2020. (ANNIE RISEMBERG / AFP)

BAMAKO  - Influential Mali cleric Imam Mahmoud Dicko urged the military junta on Wednesday to comply with demands from West African leaders to name a civilian president and prime minister by Sept 15 to ease sanctions imposed after last month’s coup.

On Saturday the junta began talks with Mali’s political parties and civil society groups over a transition to civilian rule. The move was welcomed by the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), but it kept sanctions in place.

If the international community, including ECOWAS, now thinks that the presidency of this transition should be given to civilians, let’s give it to civilians.  

Imam Mahmoud Dicko, Mali's cleric and opposition leader

Dicko, a Salafist preacher who earlier this year electrified protesters during anti-government demonstrations, told the state broadcaster late on Wednesday that Mali needed assistance and that it had nothing to gain by going behind the back of the international community.

“If the international community, including ECOWAS, now thinks that the presidency of this transition should be given to civilians, let’s give it to civilians,” Dicko said, ruling himself out of the running.

“Mali is full of executives, men of integrity, let’s find this rare bird.”

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President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned and dissolved parliament last month after being detained at gunpoint. The military takeover was welcomed by many Malians, tired of violence by Islamist and ethnic militias and alleged high-level corruption.

Opposition groups also voiced enthusiastic support for the coup, but the honeymoon looked to be over last week when the opposition coalition, of which Dicko is a senior figure, sharply criticised the junta after it wasn’t invited to preliminary consultations about the transition.

READ MORE: West Africa leaders soften stance on return of Mali leader

International powers fear the political uncertainty in Bamako could undermine the fight across West Africa’s Sahel region against Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, as a previous coup in 2012 did.

Jihadist fighters killed three Malian soldiers and destroyed two vehicles in an attack near Alatona, Segou region, in central Mali on Wednesday, army spokesman Diarran Koné told Reuters in a message.