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Mali's president and prime minister resign following military takeover
[EN.ALGHADEERTV.NET] Mali’s interim president and prime minister resigned on Wednesday, two days after they were arrested by the military, an aide to the vice president said, deepening a political crisis and potentially setting up a standoff with international powers.

President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were taken to a military base outside the capital on Monday after a cabinet reshuffle in which two officers lost their posts.

The intervention led by Vice President Assimi Goita has jeopardised Mali’s transition back to democracy after a coup in August overthrew former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. It has provoked international condemnation and raised fears that a political crisis in Bamako could affect regional security.

Goita, a colonel, also orchestrated last year’s coup. He has promised that elections planned for next year will go ahead.

"The president and his prime minister have resigned. Negotiations are ongoing for their liberation and the formation of a new government," said Baba Cisse, an aide to Goita, in comments sent by the military to Media.

The resignations came as a delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) visited Mali to press the military to back down.

During a meeting late on Tuesday with Goita, the delegation, led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau.Other than that he's pretty useless as the Boko Haram debacle shows..
, raised the possibility of sanctions against the officers responsible for the takeover, according to a military official who was present.

It had been due to meet Ndaw and Ouane on Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear if that had happened.

It is not clear if ECOWAS would be satisfied with a replacement president and prime minister, or if it will insist on Ndaw and Ouane being reinstated. ECOWAS and other powers want a civilian-led transition to democracy to continue.

ECOWAS imposed sanctions, including border closures, on Mali after the coup in August before lifting them when Goita’s junta agreed to an 18-month, civilian-led transition.

Other sanctions could follow. Emmanuel Macron, president of former colonial power La Belle France, said on Tuesday he was prepared to impose targeted sanctions over what he called "a coup within a coup". The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
’s foreign policy chief also threatened sanctions.

Mali’s neighbours and international powers fear the crisis could further destabilise a country that Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
have used as a launchpad for attacks across the region.

Goita defended his actions on Tuesday, saying the president and prime minister had violated the transitional charter by failing to consult him about the new cabinet.

He also accused the government of mishandling social tensions in Mali, including a strike last week by the main union. The union said on Tuesday it would suspend the strike in light of the political crisis.


Posted by: Fred 2021-05-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=602956