Coup leaders vow polls as African Union suspends Mali

African Union has suspended Mali's membership from the bloc over the recent coup. Mali was long hailed as a pillar of stability and democracy in West Africa, but it has been beset by insecurity since 2012, when a coup created a power vacuum that Islamic extremists took advantage of.

Bamako: The soldiers who forced Mali's president from power promised on Wednesday to hold elections to return the country to civilian rule, but African Union has immediately suspended Mali's membership from the bloc.

Western leaders have also condemned the coup and expressed concern for the country's stability.

After months of anti-government protests amid deteriorating security in the West African nation, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's hand was forced Tuesday when mutinous soldiers surrounded his residence, fired shots into the air and eventually detained him and his prime minister. Keita later announced his resignation on state broadcaster ORTM.

News of Keita's departure was met with jubilation by anti-government demonstrators in the capital, Bamako, and alarm by former colonial ruler France, and other allies and foreign nations.

The mutinous soldiers — who identified themselves as the National Committee for the Salvation of the People — tried to calm concerns in an address on state broadcaster ORTM early Wednesday.

"With you, standing as one, we can restore this country to its former greatness," said spokesman Col. Maj. Ismael Wague, announcing that Mali's borders were closed and imposing a nighttime curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Wague said the committee will implement a transition to civilian political rule with elections held in a "reasonable amount of time," but gave no timeline.

Mali was long hailed as a pillar of stability and democracy in West Africa, but it has been beset by insecurity since 2012, when a coup created a power vacuum that Islamic extremists took advantage of. Their rapid march through the country's north alarmed the international community, as they set up a parallel state that many feared would threaten the security of the entire region.

French-led forces pushed back the jihadists in 2013, and a U.N. peacekeeping force of more than 15,000 troops is now on the ground, costing some $1.2 billion annually. But even with substantial help from France's military, Malian forces have failed to end the attacks, which increased dramatically last year, unsettling the population and neighboring countries.

Instability in Mali threatens the entire Sahel — an arid, thinly populated region south of the Sahara — where the U.S. also has about 1,400 troops, including special forces. In the years since the Islamic insurgency began in Mali, the rise of extremism also has increasingly destabilized neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger.

The UN quickly criticized Tuesday's military takeover, and the Security Council scheduled a closed meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the situation. The influential West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it was sending a high-level delegation to "ensure the immediate return to constitutional order."

The bloc had previously sent mediators to negotiate a unity government, but those talks fell apart when it became clear that the protesters would not accept anything less than Keita's resignation.

The African Union and ECOWAS condemned the coup and called for a quick return to civilian rule. The West African bloc said it would stop all economic, trade and financial flows and transactions between ECOWAS states and Mali.

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the military takeover and pledged full support to the regional mediation effort.

"We are working with one immediate goal, which is the return to civilian order and a state of law," said an official with the French presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be publicly named according to official policy.

He wouldn't give any details about what the French military might do, saying only: "The priority is to not lose the fight against terrorism."

The coup is a blow to France and to Macron, who has supported Keita and sought to improve relations with former colonies in Africa.

On Tuesday night, Keita appeared on state broadcaster ORTM to resign, with a banner across the bottom of the screen that referred to him as the "outgoing president."

"I wish no blood to be shed to keep me in power," he said. "I have decided to step down from office."

He also announced that his government and the National Assembly would be dissolved.
Keita, who tried to meet protesters' demands through a series of concessions, has enjoyed broad support from France and other Western allies. There was no immediate word on his future. First elected in 2013 with more than 77% of the vote, he still had three years left in his second and final term.

The deteriorating security situation for soldiers was among multiple issues playing a key role in the coup, said Alexandre Raymakers, a senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy.

A contributing factor was late and low payments to army troops, he said. Wives of soldiers protested earlier this year over late salaries as soldiers' lives were increasingly at risk from extremist attacks.

"Relations between the presidency and military have been deteriorating since the start of the year," Raymakers said, especially as reports by rights groups have come out condemning extrajudicial killings by Mali's military. Keita, in February, also made a forceful speech criticizing the overall conduct of the military in its counterinsurgency efforts.

The developments Tuesday bore a striking resemblance to Mali's 2012 coup, which originated from the very same military barracks in Kati. The previous coup unleashed years of chaos in Mali.

The political vacuum now caused by Tuesday's coup will reinforce the narrative pushed by Islamic extremists that the Malian state is inept, Raymakers said. The coup also will undermine trust between the military and its Western partners, he added.

Keita's political downfall closely mirrored that of his predecessor, Amadou Toumani Toure, who was forced out of the presidency by an army captain angered over the government's lack of support for soldiers battling ethnic Tuareg separatist rebels in the north.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in Mali warned that more chaos would only hurt the Malian people.

"People in northern and central Mali have lived for years n a vicious cycle of conflict and climate shocks that have driven them from their homes and destroyed their livelihoods. Their needs must not be forgotten," said the head of the delegation for ICRC in Mali, Klaus Spreyermann.

AP