Protesters occupy Mali's presidential palace in the capital Bamako 21 May 2012 (Photo: Reuters)
Several thousand people marched in Mali's capital Bamako on Thursday to press for armed intervention by a west African force to help wrest back the north from armed Islamists.
The demonstrators waved banners and placards expressing support for the army, Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, and for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which is preparing to send troops, if backed by the United Nations and the West.
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