By Editor, with Agency report
Soldiers stomped the residence of the Malian President, Ibrahim Keita, on Tuesday and arrested him. The country’s Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse, who was said to be with Keita when the soldiers came, was also arrested.
A government spokesman, who confirmed the development to BBC on Tuesday, said the coup attempt began with gunfire at a key military camp near the capital, Bamako. It was learnt that young men in the city reportedly set a government-owned building on fire during an incident which occurred shortly after junior officers detained commanders and took control of the Kati camp, about 15km from Bamako.
The mutiny was said to have been condemned by regional group ECOWAS, the African Union and former colonial power, France. However, the unrest reportedly coincided with calls for more protests to demand that the President resign. According to BBC, the incident was led by Col Malick Diaw – deputy head of the Kati camp – and another commander, Gen Sadio Camara.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said in a tweet that he “emphatically condemns” the arrests of President Keïta and his prime minister.
Meanwhile, former President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Economic Community of West African States’ Special Envoy to the Republic of Mali, had earlier on Tuesday met with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. At the meeting, Jonathan was said to have told his successor that the country’s main opposition group, M5, insisted on its call for the resignation of President Ibrahim Keita.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘President Buhari receives briefing on Mali crisis from ECOWAS special envoy, Goodluck Jonathan.’
According to Adesina, Buhari thanked Jonathan for what he called “the stamina you have displayed” on the Mali issue and suggested further consultations with the Chairman of ECOWAS, President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic.
