BAMAKO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and top government officials were detained on Tuesday by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako on Tuesday, plunging a country already facing a jihadist insurgency and mass protests deeper into crisis.
* Hundreds take to streets in capital to celebrate mutiny* Fears crisis could destabilise W.Africa’s Sahel region Keita’s detention at his residence in southwestern Bamako followed hours of uncertainty after soldiers mutinied in the morning at the Kati military base outside Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian officials and military officers.
It was not immediately clear who was leading the mutineers, who would govern in Keita’s absence or what the mutineers’ motivations were. A military spokesman said he had no information. A mutiny in 2012 at the same Kati base led to a military coup that toppled then-President Amadou Toumani Toure and hastened the fall of Mali’s north to jihadist militants.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France “condemns in the strongest terms this grave event”. The U.S. envoy to the Sahel, J. Peter Pham, said on Twitter that “the U.S. is opposed to all extra-constitutional changes of government”.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Newsdeck: Protesters pack Belarus capital, Russia says military help availableMINSK/MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Belarusians chanting 'Step down!' filled the centre of the capital Minsk on Sunday in the biggest protest so far against what they said was the fraudulent re-election a week ago of longtime president Alexander Lukashenko.
Read more »
Newsdeck: Nishikori tests positive for COVID-19 ahead of U.S. OpenAug 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Kei Nishikori said on Sunday he had tested positive for COVID-19 while in Florida - just two weeks ahead of the U.S. Open that begins in New York on Aug. 31.
Read more »
Newsdeck: At least seven dead in blast at hotel in Somalia’s capitalMOGADISHU, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Militants stormed a high-end seaside hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 20, in the second attack by Islamist insurgents on a highly fortified target in the Somali capital this week.
Read more »
Newsdeck: Italy closes nightclubs as coronavirus cases rise among youngROME, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Italy is to shut discos and clubs and make it compulsory to wear a mask outdoors in some areas during the night-time in the first reimposition of restrictions as cases of coronavirus pick up across the country, especially among younger people.
Read more »
Newsdeck: Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. accused of 2013 rape in lawsuit filed by unnamed womanAug 18 (Reuters) - Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has been accused of raping a woman twice in a New York City hotel room in 2013, according to a civil lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Read more »
Newsdeck: Trump’s postmaster general pauses service cuts after mail-in ballots outcryWASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday suspended all mail service changes until after the November election, bowing to an outcry by Democrats that the moves appeared to be an attempt to boost President Donald Trump's re-election chances.
Read more »