Coup: Malian Soldiers attend rally, thank people for support

• US suspends military aid to Mali

 Agency Report

 Opposition supporters trooped into Bamako’s central square on Friday to celebrate the overthrow of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, where they were warmly praised by the country’s new military rulers.

Thousands gathered in the capital’s Independence Square, the birthplace of a months-long protest movement, many of them draped in Mali’s national flag and blasting on vuvuzela horns.

The rally  is coming three days after mutinying troops seized the country’s unpopular 75-year-old president, forced him to announce his resignation and unveiled a junta that would rule until a “transitional president” takes over.

In contrast to fierce condemnation abroad at the overthrow of an elected leader, many in the square were jubilant and shouted their approval when the junta came to pay tribute for the public’s part in the drama.

“We have come here to thank you, to thank the Malian public for its support,” the junta’s spokesman, Ismael Wague, told the crowd.

“We merely completed the work that you began and we recognise ourselves in your fight.”

Keita’s downfall came after months of protests, staged by a loose coalition called the June 5 Movement, that were fuelled by anger at failures to stem a bloody jihadist insurgency, revive the economy and tackle corruption.

“I am overjoyed! We won. We came here to thank all the people of Mali because this is the victory of the people,” said opposition supporter Mariam Cisse, 38.

A retired soldier, Ousmane Diallo, 62, said, “We are here to celebrate the victory of the people. Just the victory of the people.”

“IBK has failed,” he said, using a common reference to the ousted president by his initials. “The people are victorious.”

But, Diallo cautioned, “the military should not be thinking now that they can stay in power.”

Meanwhile, the United States on Friday suspended military aid to Mali after a group of rebel military officers seized power and placed the West African country’s president under arrest.

There will be “no further training or support of the Mali armed forces — we have halted everything until we can clarify the situation,” the US special envoy for the Sahel, J. Peter Pham, told reporters.

“It’s not clear which forces are involved in the mutiny, who is involved specifically, where loyalties lie,” he said.

On Tuesday, mutinying troops seized the country’s elected but unpopular 75-year-old president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

They forced him to announce his resignation and unveiled a junta that would rule until a “transitional president” takes over.

Pham said the US government, which is particularly concerned about Islamist jihadists carrying out attacks in the country, was in contact with the junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People.

“These contacts are operational,” Pham said.

“They do not imply recognition but acknowledgment that these people are to a certain degree in control of certain things.”

The takeover — Pham avoided the term “coup” — “is certainly not going to help,” he said, as the United States and other countries work together with the Malian military to combat Al Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups conducting attacks in the region.

Washington currently provides surveillance and logistical support for French troops in the country conducting operations against the extremists.

He reiterated the US demand that Keita be released, noting his age and poor health.

“He is the legitimately elected head of state,” Pham said.

AFP