West African leaders on Sunday lifted financial and trade sanctions they imposed on Mali’s military regime, accepting the junta’s date for a March 2024 return to civilian rule, a delegate at a regional summit said. Heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had gathered to assess efforts to secure timetables and other guarantees for restoring civilian rule in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Mali underwent coups in August 2020 and May 2021, followed by Guinea in September 2021 and Burkina Faso this January. Fearing contagion in a region notorious for military takeovers, ECOW…