Incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta will be Mali’s next president but an unremarkable first term, and a flawed election, could put a dent in his legacy
After nighttime clashes with loyalists of ousted President Amadou Toumani Tourie, the chief of Mali’s junta says "the situation is under control".
Former prime minister Modibo Sidibe has been arrested in Mali, along with several other high-ranking figures, both civilian and military.
Mali’s interim president will be sworn in on Thursday, ending a period of military rule that saw Tuaregs and Islamists seize half of the country.
Mali is waiting anxiously to see if the military junta would restore democracy after the toppled president formally resigned.
Mali’s interim leader Dioncounda Traore has plenty to prepare for after ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure resigned as part of a deal with Ecowas.
Mali’s ousted leader Amadou Toumani Toure, who has been missing since his overthrown, says he is safe in Bamako and not being held by the junta.
Mali’s junta has revealed a new Constitution that rules its members out of upcoming elections, seeking to show it will not cling to power.
Rebels in the north of Mali have been moving south to take up state military positions, while renegade soldiers demanded the president’s arrest.
Renegade Mali soldiers claim to have seized the presidential palace and arrested several ministers after a gun battle, in an apparent coup d’etat.
A Malian Tuareg politician said in an interview published on Friday that two Austrian tourists held captive by al-Qaeda in the Sahara were not in the country, as previously suspected. ”They are not in Mali. I would know and our president would know,” said Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane.
Austria sought international help on Monday to free two nationals seized three weeks ago in Tunisia after the kidnappers, a group linked to al-Qaeda, extended their deadline for a proposed prisoner swap. Abductors from the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb are now demanding a ransom of €5-million.
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/ 29 October 2007
African leaders and technology experts met on Monday in Rwanda to discuss plans to boost the continent’s development by securing universal internet access by 2012. Several heads of state attended the Connect Africa gathering, organised by the International Telecommunication Union and supported by international bodies including the African Union.
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/ 10 October 2007
A woman stuffed the ends of her veil in her mouth to choke her cries, as men carried the wooden coffin of a 48-year-old Senegalese officer killed in the deadliest blow to peacekeepers in Darfur. Ten peacekeepers, including both soldiers and policemen, were killed when an estimated 1 000 rebels stormed an African Union base.
At least 10 civilians and one soldier were killed in northern Mali on Thursday when their vehicles hit landmines planted by suspected Tuareg rebels. The casualties in the north of the Sahel state followed three attacks this week by the Malian rebels in the desolate mountain region near the border with Algeria and Niger.