Free Republic

Executive Summary:On March 21, 2012, a group of Army mutineers appeared on Mali's national television station to declare that they had ended President Amadou Toumani Toure's regime and put in place the “National Committee for the Return of Democracy and the Restoration of State” (CNRDR). In the days following the coup, the leader of the CNRDR – Captain Amadou Sanago, a virtually unknown junior officer, has shown an inability to command discipline from his troops – who have looted the capital. The disappearance of President Toure and the factional infighting of the Army have made the country defenseless against AQIM’s...

Mali Prime Minister Modibo Sidibe has resigned after more than three years in the job, officials told AFP Wednesday, in a move that comes just over a year ahead of presidential elections. No reason was immediately given for his resignation and a new government was expected to be announced, officials in the president's and prime minister's office told AFP. Sidibe, who was appointed prime minister in September 2007, handed his resignation to President Amadou Toumani Toure who accepted, they said. The 58-year-old is considered close to Toure whose second and final term ends in 2012. None of the officials provided...