Mali Coup

The African Union said Tuesday it had suspended Niger until civilian rule in the country is restored.

The African Union announced it was suspending Mali with immediate effect and threatened the impoverished country with sanctions, after a second military coup in nine months.

Mali's interim president and premier have been released, a military official said Thursday, three days after they were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to be the country's second coup in nine months.

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced his resignation with immediate effect in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a day after rebel soldiers launched a coup.

Mali's president said he was resigning to avoid "bloodshed" early Wednesday, hours after his arrest by troops in a sudden coup that followed a months-long political crisis in the fragile West African nation.

Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was the favourite to win a presidential election on Sunday that Malians hope will restore stability in a country torn apart by last year's coup and Islamist insurgency.

Malians will go to the polls Sunday in their millions for a president expected to usher in a new era of peace and democracy in the first election since a military coup upended one of the region's most stable democracies.

Voters in Mali headed to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election it is hoped will the provide a fresh start to a country divided by a coup and a war in its desert north.

Mali's interim President has named a replacement Prime Minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed him under house arrest, provoking international condemnation.

Mali's interim president has named a replacement prime minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed him under house arrest, provoking international condemnation.

The junta that seized power in a coup last month announced late on Thursday that it had released 22 people whose arrests earlier this week had prompted international criticism.

Booms from rocket launchers and automatic gunfire crackled on Sunday around Mali's fabled town of Timbuktu, known as an ancient seat of Islamic learning, for its 700-year-old mud mosque and, more recently, as host of the musical Festival in the Desert that attracted Bono in January.

Television screens throughout Mali momentarily went black on Friday, as residents near the building housing the state broadcaster saw troops erecting barricades, fearing a possible countercoup a day after a military takeover.

Renegade Mali soldiers on Thursday claimed they had seized power from an "incompetent regime," announcing on television they had suspended the constitution and dissolved state institutions.

The African Union said Tuesday it had suspended Niger until civilian rule in the country is restored.

The African Union announced it was suspending Mali with immediate effect and threatened the impoverished country with sanctions, after a second military coup in nine months.

Mali's interim president and premier have been released, a military official said Thursday, three days after they were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to be the country's second coup in nine months.

Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced his resignation with immediate effect in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a day after rebel soldiers launched a coup.

Mali's president said he was resigning to avoid "bloodshed" early Wednesday, hours after his arrest by troops in a sudden coup that followed a months-long political crisis in the fragile West African nation.

Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was the favourite to win a presidential election on Sunday that Malians hope will restore stability in a country torn apart by last year's coup and Islamist insurgency.

Malians will go to the polls Sunday in their millions for a president expected to usher in a new era of peace and democracy in the first election since a military coup upended one of the region's most stable democracies.

Voters in Mali headed to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election it is hoped will the provide a fresh start to a country divided by a coup and a war in its desert north.

Mali's interim President has named a replacement Prime Minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed him under house arrest, provoking international condemnation.

Mali's interim president has named a replacement prime minister after soldiers behind a coup earlier this year forced out his predecessor and placed him under house arrest, provoking international condemnation.

The junta that seized power in a coup last month announced late on Thursday that it had released 22 people whose arrests earlier this week had prompted international criticism.

Booms from rocket launchers and automatic gunfire crackled on Sunday around Mali's fabled town of Timbuktu, known as an ancient seat of Islamic learning, for its 700-year-old mud mosque and, more recently, as host of the musical Festival in the Desert that attracted Bono in January.

Television screens throughout Mali momentarily went black on Friday, as residents near the building housing the state broadcaster saw troops erecting barricades, fearing a possible countercoup a day after a military takeover.

Renegade Mali soldiers on Thursday claimed they had seized power from an "incompetent regime," announcing on television they had suspended the constitution and dissolved state institutions.