Mali’s president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, has resigned after been detained by soldiers on Tuesday.
Hours after he and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé were taken to a military camp, France and other regional powers decried the act. Mali’s former colonial ruler, France, was quick to condemn the president’s detention, and Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian urged the soldiers to return to barracks. Mali is a key base for French troops fighting Islamist insurgents across the Sahel region.
Also taken were the president’s son, the speaker of the National Assembly and the foreign and finance ministers.
No one knows who began the mutiny or who will take over at the moment. However, the president has dissolved his government and the parliament saying that he “wants no blood to be spilt to keep me in power.”
Meanwhile, a new opposition coalition led by the conservative Imam, Mahmoud Dicko, has called for reforms after rejecting concessions from Mr Keïta, including the formation of a unity government.
It has been gathered that the United Nations and the African Union has gotten involved by asking for the release of those held by the soldiers. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has also said that its 15 member states have agreed to close their borders with Mali and suspend all financial aid. They also said that Mali will be ejected from all ECOWAS decision-making bodies.
