A summit of West African leaders started here on Saturday vowing to help prevent Mali from formally splitting, following the seizure of northern parts of the country by militants and the fleeing of thousands of refugees. Six heads of states from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) opened a meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, with commitment to preserve Malian integrity against threats from the armed separatists in the north. How to form a reconciliatory government in Mali, securing the civil community organizations and the protection of the transitional president are among this summit's priorities, a senior official said about the meeting, noting that the constitutional foundations in Bamako is weak.
