Mali Crisis: World Leaders React, as President Keita Resigns

World leaders have condemned ongoing Mali crisis and military invasion as President Ibrahim Keita resigned and dissolved Parliament late Tuesday.

Junior soldiers had in a mutinous move hijacked the Kati Barrack, near capital city Bamako detaining senior officers and commanders before swooping on the private residence of President Ibrahim Keita and seizing him alongside Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other top government officials, TheConscience reports. 

75 year-old President Keita later said he was resigning as President, a post he has held since 2013, and also dissolved Parliament in an apparent move to avoid bloodshed and further escalation of the Mali crisis. 

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“I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power,” Keita said in a brief address broadcast on state television.

In swift reaction, the African Union condemned the crisis and soldiers invasion in the West African Mali and called for immediate release of the detained President Ibrahim Keita, Prime Minister Cisse and other seized officials. 

In a statement obtained by TheConscience, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat said “the Union strongly rejects any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and calls on the mutineers to cease all recourse to violence, and calls for the respect of the country’s institutions.

“The Chairperson further calls on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations and the entire international community to combine our collective efforts to oppose any use of force as a means to end the political crisis in Mali.”

 

The European Union on Tuesday also waded into the Mali Crisis. The EU rejected any anti-constitutional change in government and called for dialogue on the Mali crisis. 

In its own statement by High Representative and Vice-President, Josep Borrell, the European Union “condemns the coup attempt underway in Mali and rejects any anti-constitutional change. This can in no way be a response to the deep socio-political crisis that has hit Mali for several months.

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“In consultation with its partners in the international community, particularly ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations, the EU calls for dialogue. A consensual outcome, with respect for constitutional principles, international law and human rights is the only way to avoid destabilization not only of Mali but of the entire region.

“The EU continues to give its full support to the mediation undertaken by ECOWAS. Contacts are underway to better understand the situation and decide on the next steps in the action of the international community.”