Ibrahim boubacar keita
Mali bids state farewell to ex-president Keita
Interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga attended the ceremony in a military camp in the Sahel state's capital Bamako, where the ex-leader's coffin was...
Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said he was "saddened to learn of the death of former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita", adding that "it is with great emotion that I bow before his memory".
Mali has agreed to accept 1,000 UN peacekeepers from nearby Chad, following France's move to reduce troops in its conflict-torn former colony.
On 18 August 2020, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by a group of young army officers after months of protests sparked by perceived corruption and failure to quash jihadist violence.
The first round of voting for the presidency and legislature will take place on February 27 2022, followed by runoff votes on March 13 and 22 respectively, the minister of territorial administration, Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, told reporters.
Bah Ndaw said in a speech he would strive for 'a stable, calm and successful transition, in the agreed conditions and timeframe.'
President Nana Akufo-Addo, who currently chairs Ecowas, said that a mediator would travel to Bamako in a week and the 15-nation bloc wanted the process finished.
The military rulers have this time invited to the talks the June 5 Movement, which spearheaded a protest movement that led to the toppling of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) held a summit on Friday to discuss Mali’s future and whether to lift sanctions on the country following last week’s ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Keita’s whereabouts could not immediately be confirmed. His residence in Bamako appeared deserted at midday with no sign of the usual security presence outside, a local resident said, asking not to be named.
Last week's coup, Mali's second in eight years, followed months of protests calling for Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign as public discontent with the government grew over the collapsing economy and a brutal Islamist insurgency.
Thousands gathered in the capital's Independence Square, the birthplace of a months-long protest movement, many of them draped in Mali's national flag and blasting on vuvuzela horns.
The mutineers met Mahmoud Dicko, a Salafist preacher who electrified protesters during anti-Keita demonstrations in recent weeks that drew tens of thousands of people.
Demonstrators notably torched the offices of the attorney of former justice minister Kassim Tapo.
The suspension will last until constitutional order is restored, it said, demanding the release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other senior officials.
The AU chairperson on Wednesday called for an immediate return to civilian rule and for the military to return to their barracks.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's government had been beset by months of protests over economic stagnation, corruption and a brutal Islamist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.
Looking tired and wearing a surgical mask, Keita resigned in a brief address broadcast on state television after troops seized him along with Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other top officials.
Keita’s detention at his residence in southwestern Bamako followed hours of uncertainty after soldiers mutinied in the morning at the Kati military base outside Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian officials and military officers.