Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure issued a formal letter of resignation Sunday from his undisclosed hiding place, weeks after being deposed in a military coup.
The move is significant, coming just one day after the military junta had reiterated its intention to hand power to an interim civilian government within the next few days. Toure’s resignation would allow for a new interim president.
Toure’s government was ousted in a coup on March 21 by soldiers unhappy with the failing effort to crush a secessionist movement in the north. Since the junta took over, the Tuareg secessionists have conquered more than half of the country and declared an independent state called Azawad. The rebels, trained by Libya’s Gadhafi regime and flush with weapons from his stockpiles after its overthrow, made quick work of taking northern cities.
Mali’s neighbors condemned the coup and imposed massive sanctions on the junta, which has forced them to agree to quickly transfer power. Its unclear what, if anything, the junta or a new civilian president intend to do about Azawad, as most of the international community has rejected Tuareg independence. It seems unlikely Mali has the ability to reconquer the desert north after being run out by the rebels.
This article says that Toure is in hiding. My understanding is that in effect he is being held in secret by the military. No doubt they pressed him to sign the resignation. Where is all the outcry about the rightful elected president being forced to resign? The transfer of power will probably involve the rebels gaining key posts such as the Defense ministry. What has happened is the legitimization of the coup through the transfer. Watch for continuing violence as the U.S. gives support to attacks upon the northern rebels.A small team of U.S. special forces are already in Mali