Morocco urges peaceful transition in Mali

Morocco has expressed concern at the latest political and social tensions in Mali urging a peaceful transition.

“Morocco calls on all parties and political actors in Mali to take into consideration the best interest of the country, stability, peace and the aspirations of the Malian people,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Morocco urges a “peaceful transition” enabling a return to the constitutional order, the ministry said, adding that the North African kingdom is confident that Malian brothers will show responsibility in line with their values of peace and national harmony in order to restore Mali’s stability.

Following a mutiny, President Keita resigned in a televised address late Tuesday saying he was also dissolving the government and parliament. “I want no blood to be spilled to keep me in power,” he said.

“If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice?” Keita said from a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako where he and his Prime Minister Boubou Cisse had been detained earlier in the day.

Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were kidnapped by mutiny soldiers, on Tuesday, further worsening a national crisis in a country already grappling with a jihadist insurgency and mass protests.

The soldiers behind the coup – calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People – appeared on state television in military uniform, pledging to stabilize the country.

“We are not holding on to power but we are holding on to the stability of the country,” said Ismail Wague, Mali Air Force’s deputy chief of staff.

A spokesman for the soldiers called for “a civil political transition leading to credible general elections”.