Top West African officials met with the junta leaders and Mali's deposed president Saturday in the capital Bamako, trying to negotiate a return to civilian rule after a coup this week.

The mediation efforts came a day after thousands of Malians took to the capital's streets to celebrate the coup that ousted elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

The West African regional bloc known as ECOWAS has strongly condemned the coup and said the high-level delegation will work "to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order." ECOWAS also demanded the reinstatement of Keita.

ECOWAS had said it's mobilizing a regional military force, an indication it's preparing for a military intervention in Mali in case negotiations with the junta leaders fail.

The international community has expressed alarm about the coup d'etat, which deposed Mali's democratically elected leader who still had three years left in his term. 

The high-level delegation, led by Nigeria's former president Goodluck Jonathan, held talks with the junta, including Col. Assimi Goita, who has declared himself the group's leader. The regional delegation also met with Keita and the other detained officials.

After the brief meetings, few details were given, but Jonathan did say that Keita was doing well.

"We have seen the president IBK and he is very well," Jonathan said, referring to Keita as many in the country do by using his initials.

Keita and his prime minister have remained in the custody of the coup leaders.

The coup took place Tuesday, when soldiers detained the president and forced him to resign and to dissolve the National Assembly and government. By Wednesday, soldiers from the junta calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People had declared they were in charge of the West African nation and would work toward a civilian transitional government.

(Cover image: Col. Assimi Goita, center, who has declared himself the leader of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, is accompanied by group spokesman as they meet with a high-level delegation from the West African regional bloc, Bamako, Mali, August 22, 2020. /AP)