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Mali President Resigns, Interim Leader Prepares for Transition
[An Nahar] Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was toppled in a military coup 17 days ago, formally resigned Sunday in a move paving the way for the departure of the junta that ousted him.Under the terms of a transition deal with the West African bloc ECOWAS, the junta's leaders said they would allow a return to democracy once Toure formally quit. Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... President Blaise Compaore hailed the accord as a first step in restoring order in chaos-split Mali, whose northern half is now under the control of Islamists, Tuareg rebels and outlaws. Comparore noted that "two issues warrant the attention of the international community." "It's the return to constitutional order on one hand, and on the other, it is the preservation of Mali's territorial integrity." "We have been able to make progress on the first, and we have in days to come to engage on the second," he added. The deal also led to an immediate lifting of ECOWAS-imposed sanctions and an amnesty for coup participants. Speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore is also to become interim president with the task of organizing elections, if possible within 40 days, according to the agreement. Posted by: Fred 2012-04-09 |
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