Mali says it will work with regional bloc, AU, UN on transition timeline

FILE PHOTO: Colonel Assimi Goita, leader of two military coups and new interim president, walks during his inauguration ceremony in Bamako, Mali June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Amadou Keita/File Photo

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's transitional government has created working groups with members of West Africa's regional bloc, the African Union and the United Nations to work toward a return to constitutional order, it said on Wednesday.

The West African state was hit hard with sanctions last month after the military junta that first seized power in a 2020 coup proposed extending its rule until 2025.