BAMAKO — Mali’s ousted leader Amadou Toumani Toure, whose whereabouts have been unknown since he was overthrown on March 22, has told AFP he is safe in the capital Bamako and not being held by the junta.
The president was chased out of power just five weeks before the end of his term in office ahead of elections on April 29, which the junta has since suspended with no fresh poll date fixed. “I am indeed in Bamako, and thank God my family and I are doing well,” Toure said in a brief telephone conversation Wednesday.
“What is important to know, is that I am not being held prisoner. “I am obviously following what is happening, I wish with all my heart that peace and democracy triumph in Mali. I have nothing else to say for the moment.”
The fate of Toure had raised concern in the past six days, since renegade soldiers forced him to flee as they fired on the presidency last week in a mutiny that led to a full-blown coup. — AFP
Print
Post Comment 
