The United Nations Security Council is expected to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in Mali after the sudden resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his government.
The meeting, requested by Niger, whose president is current chair of the West African bloc ECOWAS, and France, Mali’s former colonial ruler, will take place behind closed doors.
Keita resigned and dissolved parliament late on Tuesday just hours after mutinying soldiers detained him at gunpoint, plunging a country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests deeper into crisis.
International and regional powers fear political instability in Mali could undermine their military campaigns against Islamist militants in West Africa’s Sahel region.
The African Union strongly condemned the forced detention of Keita, the Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other members of the Malian Government and called for their immediate release.
“The Chairperson (Moussa Faki Mahamat) strongly rejects any attempt at the unconstitutional change of government in Mali and calls on the mutineers to cease all recourse to violence, and calls for the respect of the country’s institutions.”
The AU further called on ECOWAS, the UN and the international community to cooperate to oppose any use of force as a means to end the political crisis in Mali.
France also condemned the incident and urged the soldiers to return to barracks.
“France was concerned to learn of the mutiny which began today in Kati, Mali. It utterly condemns this serious incident,” a statement by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in part.
Mali’s political crisis this year began following protests in early June after the opposition rejected compromises by President Keita following the outcome of disputed parliamentary elections held in March and April.
However, there were other underlying reasons behind the protests such as the government’s handling of the jihadist insurgency, state corruption and the economic crisis facing the country.
