Mali interim PM forms new government

AFP - Mali's interim prime minister Cheick Modibo Diarra on Wednesday formed a government of 24 members, including three representatives of the military.

The three will hold the defence, interior and civil protection portfolios in the west African country where the military seized power in a coup last month before relinquishing control under a deal brokered by west African bloc ECOWAS, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Diarra was named interim prime minister on April 17, five days after the former parliament speaker Dioncounda Traore was inaugurated as president under the Economic Community of West African States agreement.

The interim government's priorities would be to resolve the crisis in the north of the country, which has been seized by Tuareg and Islamist rebels.