Malian clergy seen as 'fourth branch of government'
Islamic clerics can serve as 'a moralizing check on government' and as counselors to political leaders
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Malian refugees gather to welcome Burkina Faso's foreign minister during his visit to the Goudebou refugee camp near Dori, Burkina Faso, on March 11, a year after Malian refugees fled under threat of jihadist attacks. (Photo: AFP)
Malians have come to see the African nation's Islamic clergy as a "fourth branch of government" in a country that has been buffeted by two coups in the past decade, said a professor from the University of Notre Dame who spent two years between the coups surveying Malians' attitudes on war, peace and politics.