UN Chief Calls for Immediate Restoration of Constitutional Order & Rule of Law in Mali

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and the rule of law in Mali, after mutinying troops arrested the country’s leader and other senior officials on Tuesday.

Soldiers had initially staged a mutiny at a base near the capital, Bamako, before subsequently detaining President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and other members of his government, according to media reports.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns these actions and calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali”, his Spokesperson said in a statement.

The UN



mission in Mali has also demanded an immediate release of President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane. In a tweet  the Minusma mission also called for "calm" in the impoverished West African nation.

  

This comes after interim President Ndaw and PM and Mr Ouane were driven by soldiers to the Kati military camp near the capital, Bamako. This raised fears of a second coup within a year in the country. Defence Minister Souleymane Doucouré has also been detained.

 

The African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the EU and the US also condemned the arrests, saying Mali's top politicians must be released without any preconditions.