Mali - The African Mirror

Aug

2020

Some agreement, but issues remain as West African mediators meet Mali coup leaders

TIEMOKO DIALLO MEDIATORS from West Africa's regional bloc reached agreement on certain points in talks with Mali's military junta that are aimed at returning the country to civilian rule, the parties said on Sunday, adding that some outstanding issues remained. The negotiations continue today, members of both delegations told journalists in Bamako. Leaders of the military junta led by Colonel Assimi Goita and mediators from West Africa's regional bloc led by Nigeria's former president, Goodluck Jonathan, met behind closed doors all day on Sunday. "We have been able to agree on a number of points but not yet on all…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Mali mediation talks “going very well”

NEWS

TALKS between Mali's military junta and mediators from West Africa's regional bloc continue in Bamako in an ongoing effort to return the country to civilian rule. The delegation from the Economic Community of West African States, led by Nigeria's former president Goodluck Jonathan, met junta leaders led by Colonel Assimi Goita behind closed doors for several hours on Sunday morning, before adjourning for lunch. A senior officer close to the junta told Reuters that the morning's discussion had focused on the bloc's sanctions on Mali following the military coup. The two sides also met briefly, for about 20 minutes on…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Talks to find a political settlement for Mali coup get underway

NEWS

MEDIATORS from West Africa's regional bloc have arrived in Mali and started talks aimed at reversing a coup that has been condemned abroad, but celebrated by many in a country battling an Islamist insurgency and simmering political unrest. Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have taken a particularly hard line on Tuesday's ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They quickly shut borders and ended financial flows - a move diplomats said was as much about dissuading opponents at home as stabilising Mali. "They cannot tolerate this taking place. They are taking it very personally. It…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Mali’s predictable coup leaves an unclear path to civilian rule

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BRUCE WHITEHOUSE, Associate Professor, Lehigh University SOLDIERS have ousted Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta who has now resigned, alongside the country’s prime minister. Moina Spooner from The Conversation Africa asked Bruce Whitehouse, who has carried out studies on coups and violent extremism in Mali, to share his thoughts on what brought on this coup, and what needs to happen next to ensure stability in the country. What laid the ground for the recent coup in Mali and who led it? There are many long-term factors, but the immediate reason for the coup was Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta’s dismal performance as president.…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

U.N. team meets detained Mali president as coup supporters plan to rally

NEWS

U.N. human rights officials have met overnight with Mali's ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other officials who have been held by mutineers since a military coup earlier this week, the U.N. mission there has announced. There has been no word from Keita since Tuesday, when he dissolved parliament and then resigned after being detained at gunpoint, deepening the crisis facing a country struggling to fend off an insurgency by Islamist militants. The human rights team was given access to Keita and other detainees, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, said on Twitter. It provided no details on what…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Regional leaders’ attempt to reverse Mali coup as junta, opposition close ranks

NEWS

TIEMOKO DIALLO and DAVID LEWIS WEST African countries will send a delegation to Mali in an effort to reverse a military coup, presidents from the region said, as an opposition coalition there joined the junta in rejecting foreign interference. Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened over the crisis on Thursday, after it suspended Mali, shut off borders and halted financial flows in response to Tuesday's overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The coup, which has rocked a country already in the grip of a growing insurgency by Islamist militants and civil unrest, has been…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Mali president Keita vowed to end coups. Now he’s been toppled too

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AARON ROSS A month after becoming president of Mali in 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining the power of government in the capital Bamako were over. "Kati will no longer scare Bamako," he said, referring to the Kati military base outside the capital where a mutiny the previous year had toppled then-President Amadou Toumani Toure. Seven years later, Keita, 75, has suffered a similar fate. He was overthrown on Tuesday by a military coup that began with a mutiny in Kati. Within hours, the putschists, firing shots in the air, drove into town, detained…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

African Union condemns Mali coup, suspends country’s membership until ousted president is reinstated

NEWS

AFRICAN Union has suspended Mali's membership and its chair and South African President has strongly condemned the bloodless military coup in Mali and called on the soldiers to restore civilian power. Ramaphosa labeled the army’s action, which came after weeks of protests and was celebrated by Malians, as unconstitutional. Malian soldiers took power after they forced President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his cabinet and Parliament to resign. Ramaphosa demanded the release, from detention, of Keita, the prime minister, cabinet ministers and other government executives. He also called for an end to military rule and said the soldiers must immediately return…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Gunfire heard at Mali army base as embassy warns of possible mutiny

NEWS

GUNFIRE was heard on Tuesday at an army base outside Mail's capital Bamako as the Norwegian Embassy and a security source said a possible military mutiny was underway. Local residents and security sources said there was gunfire at the army base in Kati, about 15 km (9 miles) outside Bamako, where a mutiny in 2012 led to a coup d'etat, although it was not immediately clear who was firing at whom. A source who handles security for non-governmental organisations in Mali said gunfire had also been heard near the prime minister's office. "The embassy has been notified of a…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Mali protests resume as thousands call for president to resign

NEWS

THOUSANDS of people took to the streets of Mali's rainy capital Bamako on Tuesday renewing calls for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to step down despite international mediation efforts to resolve a political crisis. Protests led by an opposition coalition called M5-RFP have raged since June, caused by contested local elections and perceived government corruption and incompetence. Tensions escalated in July when police shot dead at least 11 demonstrators. Regional powers are worried that prolonged unrest could derail the fight against Islamist extremists in the region, many of whom are centered in Mali. Their presence has rendered large areas of the…