Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore is scheduled to leave Bamako on Friday afternoon for Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire to attend the extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the Mali crisis.

The Malian Presidency said Traore is also to meet the US and Canadian ambassadors accredited to Mali, as well as the special representative of the UN secretary general in West Africa, Said Djinnit.

ECOWAS has decided to send 3,300 troops to Mali to help restore the member state's territorial integrity, which is undermined by Al-Qaida-linked rebels. Soldiers from some of the 15 ECOWAS countries have arrived in Mali for deployment.