Malian Coup: President Ibrahim Keita Arrested

President Ibrahim Keita of Mali has been arrested and detained by mutinying soldiers suspected of coup at the Bamako capital, TheConscience reports.

The troubled 75 year-old President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita who assumed office in September 2013 alongside Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were abducted on Tuesday, according to a government source.

“We can tell you that the president and the prime minister are under our control,” a leader, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

This online newspaper reports that President Ibrahim Keita was ‘arrested’ following an earlier launch of mutiny from the nearby garrison town of Kati.

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The apparent coup attempt in the West African nation began with gunfire at a key military camp near the capital, Bamako, on Tuesday morning.

In the city young men set a government-owned building on fire.

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The arrest of President Ibrahim Keïta and his prime minister has sparked widespread panic and global condemnation.

The unrest in the country started with unruly junior soldiers detaining their superior and forcefully took control of the camp in Kati, very close to Bamako following which the rampaging soldiers calling on the President to resign.