OUAGADOUGOU — French envoy Jean Felix-Paganon told reporters during a stop in Burkina Faso that Mali's interim government has submitted a formal request for military help to the West Africa regional organization. Felix-Paganon said he met with Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara, who is the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS. Ouattara informed him that Mali's President Dioncounda Traore has sent in a request for “help of a military nature in order to stabilize the country, especially its north." — AP
