Saturday, December 06, 2025
35.0°F

Mali's coup leader dismisses president and prime minister

Krista Larson | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 6 months AGO
by Krista LarsonBaba Ahmed
| May 25, 2021 6:33 AM

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s former coup leader Assimi Goita took control of the country again Tuesday after firing the president and prime minister of the transitional government after they announced a cabinet reshuffle without his permission.

While Goita pledged to go ahead with holding new elections in 2022 as promised, his display of force casts doubt on whether the vote will go ahead without significant interference by the junta that overthrew the last democratically elected president.

The move came a day after President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane were arrested by soldiers and brought to the military headquarters in Kati, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) outside the capital. Both men remained in detention Tuesday.

Their arrests prompted an outcry by the international community, which put out a strongly worded joint statement warning Mali’s military leaders that their actions could undermine global support for the transitional government.

___

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal.

ARTICLES BY KRISTA LARSON

September 8, 2021 12:03 a.m.

Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Conde on Sunday after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.

September 7, 2021 12:06 a.m.

Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Conde on Sunday after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.

September 6, 2021 12:06 a.m.

Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Conde on Sunday after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d’etat.