And, in Mali…
The president has officially stepped down (he was always due to step down this month). The rebels have said they would stand aside for the head of parliament to run the country until elections can be organized.
Is anyone else wondering why the coup was held in the first place. The plan was always for the president to step aside this month while elections took place. This will still happen, only the rebels advanced, people were displaced, and the international community had to get involved.
Among the groups that got involved are ECOWAS, (do you know what ECOWAS is? I confess I didn’t,) which is a basic coalition of countries in that region, The African Union, which suspended Mali during this crisis, the OIC (again, never heard of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation before), France and the US.
The rebels get amnesty. The provisional president must hold elections soon. Not sure how the rebels come out in this deal.
In other words, it just made things worse, without accomplishing anything. Africa has a long history of military coups, and a good reason to dislike them.
Here’s hoping for elections within the next two months, and a return to order and peace in Mali.