Embattled President of Mali, Ibrahim Keita, resigns after military coup

The embattled President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned.

Keita on Wednesday said he was resigning to avoid “bloodshed”, before 24 hours after his arrest by the country soldiers.

Soldiers reportedly detained 75-year- old Keita, the Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse and other top officials on Tuesday and drove them to a military base in the town of Kati, near the capital Bamako.

Rejoicing citizens in the centre of the city gathered to demand Keita’s resignation, cheered the soldiers as they made their way to the President’s official home.

Keita who appeared in a state television broadcast, midnight, to declare the dissolution of the government and national assembly, said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect.

“If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice?” he said.

“(I must) submit to it, because I don’t want any bloodshed.”