Military junta promises transition to civilian rule

BAMAKO, Mali — The military junta ruling Mali following this week’s coup is seeking a transitional president to return the country to civilian rule, the group’s spokesman said.

Ismael Wague told the Associated Press that the newly formed National Committee for the Salvation of the People will meet with political parties and civil society groups to determine the duration and composition of the transition.

His announcement came as West African leaders are escalating pressure on the junta and urging them to restore President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to power.

Wague, however, denied that the junta had carried out a coup d’etat, saying Mali still has constitutional order and Keita, 75, was only being held at army barracks for his own protection. He denied that the president had been ousted.

“The president of the republic resigned on his own after making an analysis of the country’s situation,” Wague said.

“For us, this is a civil transition, not a military one, and the president of the transition must reach a consensus among the forces of the nation,” he said.

Mali’s opposition coalition, the M5RFP, issued a statement expressing support of the downfall of the government and endorsing the junta’s plan to return the country to civilian rule. It led marches Friday in Bamako to celebrate the president’s ouster.

The coalition called on the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, “the African Union and the international community as a whole to better understand the situation in Mali apart from questions of sanctions and to support the Malian people in their quest for peace and reconciliation. national, genuine democracy and better living.”

The M5RFP welcomed Keita’s resignation and the dissolution of the National Assembly, it said in a statement Friday. Though the M5RFP was not involved in the overthrow, it led mass demonstrations starting in June calling for Keita’s ouster.

ECOWAS has called for the creation of a standby regional military force for possible intervention in Mali, saying Keita must be allowed to serve out the three years left in his term after this week’s “coup attempt.”

U.N. human rights officials were able to meet overnight with Keita and others being held by the junta since Tuesday, according to Guillaume Ngefa, the Mali representative for the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights. He gave no further details on the meeting, nor on the condition of the detainees.

The United Nations and France have also urged a return to constitutional order in Mali, amid fears that Islamic extremists could once again gain ground amid the political upheaval.