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| A combination of file pictures created on August 18, 2020 in Paris shows Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse (L) leaving the Elysee Palace after a meeting with the French president on September 10, 2019 in Paris, and Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (R) pictured during his arrival at Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport in Abidjan for a visit on May 10, 2018. Sia KAMBOU, Ludovic MARIN / AFP |
The EU on Tuesday condemned an “attempted coup” in Mali after soldiers mutinied and arrested the crisis-torn country’s political leaders.
“The European Union condemns the attempted coup d’etat underway in Mali and rejects all unconstitutional change,” the bloc’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
“This can in no way be a response to the profound socio-economic crisis which has been hitting Mali for some months.”
The EU, which has operated a mission training the armed forces in Mali since 2013, joined the UN and regional bloc ECOWAS in calling for dialogue.
“A consensual outcome respecting constitutional principles, international law and human rights is the only way to avoid destabilising not only Mali but the whole region,” Borrell said in his statement
One of the leaders of the mutineering soldiers told AFP that “the president and the prime minister are under our control” after being “arrested” at Keita’s residence in the capital Bamako.
Keita and Cisse are now being held in an army base in the town of Kati, an official at the prime minister’s office said.
Their arrest comes after months of protests calling for Keita’s arrest that have rocked the crisis-torn country.
AFP
