Protesters in the office of the head of the national assembly, Dioncounda Traore, in Bamako, Mali
Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore has been beaten and
hospitalised after hundreds of protesters stormed his palace to demand
his resignation.
A spokesperson for the soldiers behind a March 22 coup said Traore’s close-protection officers had killed three people in the attack, in which protesters entered parts of the palace compound unopposed and tore up pictures of Traore.
Mali is struggling to cope with the aftermath of the coup and a
subsequent rebellion in its desert north.
Sanogo agreed at the weekend
to drop objections to Traore remaining in charge but crowds took to the
streets on Monday calling for him to quit.
Resolving the political crisis in the capital Bamako is a
pre-requisite for foreign help in efforts to retake control of the
north, now in the hands of separatist and Islamist rebels, including
some al-Qaeda fighters.
“He [Traore] has just been rushed to hospital ...
They beat him seriously and tore his clothes,” Bakary Mariko, spokesperson for the CNRDRE body of soldiers who last month agreed to allow a transition back to civilian rule, said by telephone.
They beat him seriously and tore his clothes,” Bakary Mariko, spokesperson for the CNRDRE body of soldiers who last month agreed to allow a transition back to civilian rule, said by telephone.
Sekou Sidibe, a witness, said that Traore had received injuries to
the face and had been escorted to hospital by the country’s interim
prime minister and his bodyguards.
Soldiers at the palace stood by as the civilians entered buildings
on the compound while others clambered over armoured vehicles parked
nearby.
Some protesters parked their motorbikes and bicycles in rooms in
the palace.
“This is a spontaneous crowd. There were three dead and some
injured by gunshot amongst the demonstrators. Dioncounda’s security shot
at people,” Mariko said.
By mid-afternoon, the protesters had left, he said.
The protest, reflecting longstanding popular frustrations with
Mali’s political class, came despite Sanogo agreeing at the weekend to
let Traore remain in charge for a year to oversee the full transition to
civilian rule in return for securing the status and privileges accorded
to former heads of state.
The coup was launched by soldiers complaining about conditions they were sent to fight northern rebels in but unintentionally emboldened the insurgents, including Islamists linked to al-Qaeda, to seize two-thirds of the country.
The occupation of the presidential palace came after protesters
also paralysed traffic and blocked bridges with burning tyres in the
capital Bamako.
“There is no question of Dioncounda staying as president of Mali,”
said Daouda Diallo, one demonstrator amongst the group that marched up
the hill to the presidential palace.
Demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to the Economic Community of
West African States (Ecowas), which had threatened sanctions against
Sanogo unless he allows Traore to remain in charge.
Traore is a labour activist turned political grandee who before his
appointment last month as caretaker president was national Parliament
speaker.
He held various ministerial jobs in the 1990s and is seen by
his critics as part of a self-serving political elite that has misruled
the country for years.
“We don’t want Dioncounda” and “Down with Ecowas” chanted some in the crowd.
“I am here because I am against Dioncounda. We don’t want him in
charge,” said Bourama Sidy Coulibaly, another protester. “Ecowas should
not be meddling in Malian affairs.”
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