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Thousands Rally in Mali in Support of Military Junta

Kassim Traoré

   BAMAKO, MALI - Thousands crowded into Mali's capital Friday in a
   raucous show of support for the military junta that forced President
   Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's resignation and the government's disbanding
   earlier this week.'¯

   Demonstrators in Bamako -- some raising banners touting the National
   Committee for the Salvation of the People, the junta's name for
   itself'¯-- also denounced the Economic Community of West African States
   (ECOWAS) for condemning the coup and for closing Mali's borders to
   neighbors in the regional bloc's 14 other member nations.

   The military junta's leaders said Friday they have reopened air and
   land borders.'¯

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