President
Ibrahim Keita was forced to resign and to also dissolved the parliament and the
government headed by Prime Minister Boubou Cisse.
Nigeria’s
former President, Goodluck Jonathan is leading a team of ECOWAS leaders to Mali
where the military has overthrown the elected government of President Ibrahim
Keita.
The turn of
events followed a mutiny on Tuesday by soldiers, who later arrested Keita and
Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, in what transformed into a coup d’etat.
However, AFP
reports that Jonathan would be leading the team to Mali on Saturday to find
amicable solution to the crisis rocking the West African nation.
ECOWAS on
Thursday announced that it would dispatch a high-level delegation “to ensure
the immediate return of constitutional order”. It also demanded that Keita be
restored as president and warned the junta that it bore “responsibility for the
safety and security” of the detainees.
But AFP
reports on Friday that Jonathan, who is ECOWAS Special Envoy to Mali, alongside
14 other leaders in the regional bloc, would be in the Malian capital of Bamako
on Saturday for peace talks with the junta leaders including Assimi Goita who has
declared himself head of the junta.
Also,
Channels TV quoted a member of the new junta and an ECOWAS source, as saying
that the leaders were expected to arrive in the West African country on
Saturday.
The source
described the mission to Bamako as aiming “to help the search for solutions,”
days after mutinying soldiers took over power in Mali.
“We will
receive the ECOWAS delegation with pleasure… it is important to talk to our
brothers,” a junta official in the country told AFP on Friday.
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