The UN mission in Mali has demanded an immediate release of President Bah Ndaw and PM Moctar Ouane, after reports that they were detained by soldiers.
In a tweet (in French), the Minusma mission also called for “calm” in the impoverished West African nation.
This come after the reports that transitional President Ndaw and PM and Mr Ouane were driven by soldiers to a military camp near the capital, Bamako.
This raised fears of a second coup within a year in the country.
The reported detentions came just hours after a government reshuffle, which saw two senior army officers who took part in last year’s coup replaced.
Once again Mali is looking unstable just nine months after the military coup that saw President Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta removed from office, the BBC’s Africa editor Will Ross reports.
He says that many Malians had welcomed Mr Keita’s his departure – but there’s anger at the dominance of the military in the transitional government and the slow pace of promised reforms.
A previous coup in 2012 led to militant Islamists exploiting the instability to seize territory in northern Mali.
French troops helped regain territory, but attacks continue.
Discover more from Today Headline
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.