Mali coup leaders have released former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from detention and he has returned home, a junta spokesperson official confirmed on Thursday, reported Africa News.
A group of military officers detained Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse at gunpoin at a base near Bamako on August 18 in a sudden coup that followed a months-long political crisis in the country and forced him to resign in a takeover.
“The National Committee for the Salvation of the People set up by the military to lead the country, informs the national and international public opinion that former President Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta has been released and is currently at his residence,” the NCSP noted in a statement published on its Facebook page.
The group’s spokesperson, Captain Djibrila Maïga declared, “President IBK is free of his movements, he is at home.”
Keita’s release had been a key demand of several international organizations including the African Union, the European Union and the United Nation as well as of Mali’s neighboring countries.
West Africa’s regional bloc, ECOWAS, had sent a delegation to Bamako over the weekend to negotiate with the coup leaders.
According to the military leaders, they went ahead with the coup because the country was sinking into chaos and insecurity which they blamed on the poor government. The junta group has promised to oversee a transition to elections within a “reasonable” amount of time.
The NCSP told the ECOWAS delegation that they want to stay in power for a three-year transition period, Nigeria said on Wednesday. The West African bloc, on the other hand, is seeking for a transitional government of no more than one year.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the coup would not stop French military operations against rebels active in central and northern regions, but urged a swift transition of power.
