West African officials were on Tuesday heading for Mali, plunged into crisis after the military detained the president, prime minister and Defence minister.
The detentions which international bodies call an attempted coup come after the military in August ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Ndaw and Ouane were tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition back to civilian rule.
President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and defence minister Souleymane Doucoure were taken to a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako on Monday, hours after two members of the military lost their positions in a government reshuffle.
Bamako was calm on Tuesday morning, with streets almost empty and people staying at home.
European Union and several European countries said in a joint statement that a delegation from the main regional decision-making body ECOWAS will visit Bamako on Tuesday.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterre’s said he was deeply concerned by the detention of Mali’s leaders and called for calm and their unconditional release.
The situation could worsen instability in the West African country where Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State control large areas of the desert north and stage frequent attacks on the army and civilians.
Mali has been in turmoil since an earlier coup in 2012 triggered an ethnic Tuareg rebellion in the north, which was then hijacked by al Qaeda-linked jihadists.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
