[News]Malian military staged a riot and claim to have detained the president

[SougarLord]

The Malian military that this morning staged a coup in Bamako claim to have in their power the President of Mali, Ibrahim Bubacar Keita, as well as his Prime Minister, Bubu Cissé. One of the soldiers mutinied at the Kati barracks, from where the movement started this morning, told reporters that the two highest authorities of the republic are in his power, without giving further details.

 

The truth is that the president and prime minister were absent during the long hours that lasted what seemed like a riot and then turned into a coup. Even a statement supposedly signed by Cissé this afternoon, which appealed to dialogue with the coup plotters, was questioned by observers and attributed to people around him who tried to hide the seriousness of the situation.

 

                    

 

The news of the apparent triumph of the coup spread immediately through the capital, where military vehicles circulate on the main avenues, and where thousands of people took to the streets in a festive attitude, celebrating what happened.

 

France, the former metropolis, firmly condemned the mutiny carried out by a group of soldiers in the Kati barracks, northwest of the Malian capital, and called for respect for constitutional order. The French authorities said they received with concern the news of what appears to be an attempted coup, which they described as a mutiny, and pointed out that they are closely following the evolution of the situation.

 

The Elysee indicated that French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken with his Malian counterpart, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and with Nigerian leaders, Issoufou Mahamadou; from Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, and from Senegal, Macky Sall. The French head of state conveyed to his interlocutors his support for the mediation efforts of the Community of West African States, ECOWAS, which has condemned the alleged coup and invited the military to return to their barracks without delay.

 

"France strongly reaffirms its full commitment to Malian sovereignty and democracy," Macron stressed before French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian published a message on the matter.