Mali’s deposed president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita returns home under tight security
- Former leader’s release comes day before West African leaders hold virtual summit to discuss crisis
- Keita was detained for 10 days by military junta that staged coup last week
Former Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita returned home on Thursday after being detained for 10 days by the ruling military junta that staged a coup last week, a family member said.
The move came the same day that the junta made public a decree of its National Committee for the Salvation of the People that seems to overrule Mali’s constitution.
Keita was detained on August 18 when a group of military officers arrested him and took him to Kati, 15km (9.3 miles) from the capital, Bamako. Later that night he resigned as president.
West African leaders from the 15-nation bloc known as ECOWAS have decried the overthrow of an elected leader and placed sanctions on Mali, shutting borders, halting financial flows and threatening further sanctions.
Keita was brought home around 2am on Thursday by the military, according to a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the press. New guards were put on duty at the president’s residence and the junta must approve all visitors, the family member added.
His release comes as ECOWAS leaders are meeting on Friday in a virtual summit to further discuss the crisis in Mali. It could be a signal that Mali’s ruling junta, which wants ECOWAS to lift sanctions, are trying to meet some of the bloc’s demands.
