Top official warns of weakened regional security following withdrawal from West African economic bloc by Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger

New York, US (PANA) - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger’s decision to pull out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “even as terrorism and transnational organised crime remain a pervasive threat”, will be damaging to regional relations all round, said the UN’s top official in the region on Friday