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Africa North
Mali military makes more arrests despite new government
2012-04-19
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The military behind the Mali coup last month on Wednesday tossed in the clink two more politicians, even as a newly-appointed interim prime minister weighed the make-up of a new government.

As the junta leaders carried out their show of force, there was more bad news from the country's desert north, where the political chaos has allowed rebel forces to make huge gains in recent weeks.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
humanitarian office said some 268,000 people had now decamped northern Mali, which was seized by Tuareg rebels and Islamists in the days following the March 22 putsch.

In the capital, a member of leading opposition party the Democratic Alliance of Mali, Kassoum Tapo, was tossed in the clink by gunnies "in a public place" Tuesday night and taken to the coup leaders' military barracks, a relative told AFP on condition of anonymity.

And Tieman Coulibaly of the Democracy and Development Union was tossed in the clink at his home, his party said.

The coup leaders were already holding several brass hats -- including ex-prime minister Modibo Sidibe and Soumaila Cisse, a former minister who led the West African Economic and Monetary Union until last November.

The soldiers agreed to hand power back to civilians, and the arrests have signalled they do not want to be sidelined from the political process.

Interim president Dioncounda Traore on Tuesday named a noted astrophysicist as his prime minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra -- who worked on several space exploration missions for NASA -- and who is expected to announce the members of his government in coming days.
Posted by:Fred

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