Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta announced his resignation on Tuesday, hours after soldiers arrested him, along with the prime minister and other top officials, per state television.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday (local time) demanded “the immediate and unconditional release” of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse after they were “arrested” by the mutiny leaders.
Jubilant crowds in the city centre, gathered to demand Keita’s resignation, had cheered the rebels as they made their way to the 75-year-old’s official residence.
Keita appeared calm as he appeared in a state television broadcast after midnight to declare the dissolution of the government and national Assembly, and said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect.
A spokesperson for African Union Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said in a statement that Mahamat “strongly condemns” the arrests of the two leaders and other members of the Malian government and “calls for their immediate release.”
Earlier, Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were detained by soldiers in a dramatic escalation of a months-long crisis in the country.
The soldiers were expected to deliver a statement later, while countries in West Africa, along with former colonial power France, the European Union and the African Union, denounced the actions of the soldiers and warned against any unconstitutional change of power.
