Mali’s president and prime minister have been detained by mutinous soldiers, a West African official said. The soldiers had surrounded the residence of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, following months of demonstrations calling for his resignation.
Malian troops and citizens gather outside the private residence of Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Bamako, Mali Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Mutinous soldiers surrounded the private residence of Keita on Tuesday, firing shots into the air and a West African regional official confirmed that the president and prime minister had been detained, following several months of demonstrations calling for his resignation.
A regional official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to journalists, confirmed that the president and prime minister had been detained Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, government workers fled their offices as armed men began detaining officials including the country’s finance minister Abdoulaye Daffe.It was a dramatic change of fate for Keita, who has tried to meet the protesters’ demands through a series of concessions since the demonstrations began in June. Keita, who has broad support from former colonizer France and other Western allies, first came to power in 2013 when he won more than 77 percent of the vote in a democratic election.
It was a troubling repeat of the events leading up to the 2012 coup, which ultimately unleashed years of chaos in Mali when the ensuing power vacuum allowed Islamic extremists to seize control of northern towns. Ultimately a French-led military operation ousted the jihadists but they merely regrouped and then expanded their reach during Keita’s presidency into central Mali.
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