African Union suspends Mali following coup

The African Union (AU) has suspended Mali’s membership a day after mutinous soldiers staged a coup in the West African country and forced President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to step down.

The AU’s Peace and Security Council announced Mali’s suspension in a twitter post late on Wednesday, saying that the suspension would remain in effect “until [the] restoration of constitutional order” in the country.

It further demanded the release of President Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, and other government officials who were “forcibly detained by the army.”

A number of African countries, including Algeria, Morocco, and Nigeria, have already denounced the coup in Mali.

Soldiers staged a mutiny at a military base in Kati, a town 15 kilometers from the capital of Bamako, on Tuesday, detaining an unspecified number of high-ranking military and political figures.

African Union condemns ‘unconstitutional change’ in Mali

‘The Malian military should release from detention the president, the prime minister, ministers and other Government executives.’

Late on Tuesday, a tired-looking Keita appeared on state television, reading a brief statement from the military base and saying he had no choice but to resign to avoid “bloodshed.”

Bamako was the scene of a mutiny in 2012 that led to a coup d’etat and the ouster of the then-President Amadou Toumani Toure. The coup later contributed to the fall of northern Mali into the hands of Takfiri militants.

The African country, which is already fighting widespread militancy, has been beset by nationwide demonstrations against Keita since June, with protesters calling for his resignation over what they see as the government’s failure to restore security and deal with corruption.

The United Nations and human rights activists say at least 14 people lost their lives in the recent anti-government protests.

The mutinous soldiers, who have closed Mali’s borders and announced a curfew, call themselves the so-called National Committee for the Salvation of the People, and have promised a transition to what they have called civil political rule.

They have said snap elections will be held after a “reasonable amount of time.”

EU, UNSC reject coup

Separately on Wednesday, the European Union (EU) condemned the coup and rejected “all unconstitutional change” in Mali while the UN Security Council (UNSC) “underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to constitutional order” in the African country.

Also on Wednesday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) slammed the coup, saying it would close its member states’ land and air borders with the West African country and push for sanctions against “all the putschists and their partners and collaborators.”

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