ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Mali would welcome a West African military intervention force, not just to help recapture the north from rebels enforcing strict Islamic law but also to assist in other parts of the country, its military chief of staff said Thursday.

Ibrahim Dembele’s comments came after a two-day emergency meeting of West African military chiefs of staff in Ivory Coast to discuss the proposed intervention in Mali, where the democratically elected president was ousted in a coup back in March.