Soldiers seize Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keta

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Soldiers in Mali have detained the country's president, as well as the prime minister and other top officials in an apparent coup attempt.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and PM Boubou Cissé are being held at a military camp near the capital Bamako.
...
The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), a regional bloc that has been mediating talks between President Keïta and opposition groups, has called for the immediate release of all officials.

In a statement, it also said its 15 member states had agreed to close their borders with Mali, suspend all financial flows to the country, and eject Mali from all of Ecowas' decision-making bodies.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53825673

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Mali's PM and president held in 'attempted coup'

“We are able to tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control. We have arrested them at his [the president’s] home,” a soldier was quoted as telling Agence France-Presse early on Tuesday evening. The statement was confirmed by at least two security sources in Bamako, the capital of the unstable west African country.

The EU described the mutiny as an “attempted coup” and warned that it could destabilise “not only Mali, but the whole region”. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres called for the officials’ release and “the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law”.

But by Tuesday night, troops were moving freely through the streets of Bamako, making it increasingly clear that they were in control.
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There are widespread concerns that any instability will benefit extremists in Mali affiliated with al-Qaida and Islamic State. The insurgents have proved tenacious, growing in strength across the Sahel region despite the intervention of thousands of French forces, teams of US special forces, regional armies and one of the biggest UN peacekeeping deployments in the world.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/mali-army-mutiny-sparks-fears-of-possible-coup

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. K&R!

[FailureToCommunicate]

2. Sure never thought I'd be jealous of how things are done in Mali.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Mali's president announces resignation after 'attempted coup'

Mali’s president has announced his resignation and the dissolution of the national assembly on state television, shortly after he and the prime minister were arrested by mutinous soldiers in what the European Union described as an attempted coup.
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Speaking on national broadcaster ORTM just before midnight, a distressed Keita, wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic, said his resignation three years before his final term was effective immediately. “I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power,” Keita said. “I have decided to step down from office.”

His departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators in Bamako, the capital of the unstable west African country. “All the Malian people are tired we have had enough,” one demonstrator said.

The UN security council has scheduled a closed meeting for Wednesday to discuss the unfolding situation in Mali, where the UN has a 15,600-strong peacekeeping mission.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/18/mali-army-mutiny-sparks-fears-of-possible-coup