United Nations Security Council on
Wednesday ordered Malian mutineers to
return to barracks ‘ without delay ’.
Rebel soldiers took President Ibrahim
Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse
into custody on Tuesday afternoon and
drove the pair to a military base on the
outskirts of Bamako , which they had
seized that morning .
Keita , whose government had been beset
by months of protests over economic
stagnation, corruption and a brutal
Islamist insurgency that has claimed
thousands of lives , later announced early
Wednesday that he had resigned to avoid
“ bloodshed ” .
If it pleased certain elements of our
military to decide this should end with
their intervention , do I really have a
choice ?” he said of the day ’s events .
“( I must) submit to it , because I don’t want
any bloodshed ,” the ousted 75 – year – old
president added in a television broadcast
The coup ’s leaders appeared on television
hours later to pledge a political transition
and new elections within a “ reasonable
time ” .
Malian Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff ,
Ismael Wague, said he and his fellow
officers had “ decided to take
responsibility in front of the people and of
history ” .
