PRETORIA, August 20. /TASS/: Mali’s military leaders who seized power have called on citizens to stop "the acts of vandalism" in the country and asked state officials to return to work, Nigerian newspaper Vanguard reported on Thursday.
"We are inviting all staff of state agencies to come to work and start working," a representative of the self-proclaimed National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) Col. Ismael Wague told the national television.
He also said the military would not tolerate "the acts of vandalism." "The destruction of public buildings must stop," Wague stressed. On the day of mutiny on August 18 in the country’s capital Bamako numerous state buildings were looted. Some buildings, including courts and attorney’s offices, were set on fire.
The colonel dismissed the reports that four people had been killed and ten others had been wounded during the mutiny. "No one was hurt," Wague said.
He also stressed that strict discipline would be observed in the military units and its violators would be harshly punished.
A mutiny broke out at an army base in Kati, outside capital city Bamako, on August 18 morning. The military seized the General Staff, arrested the country’s top authorities, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and established the so-called National Committee for the Salvation of the People. Under pressure Keita announced his resignation on August 19 and also dissolved the government and the parliament.
On August 19 afternoon, the rebels declared that the National Committee for the Salvation of the People would be led by Col. Assimi Goita. He served in Mali’s special forces and took part in plotting and carrying out the mutiny.
The mutiny was carried out during a long-running political, economic, social and military crisis in the country. Mali is one of the world’s poorest countries, ranked 119th in terms of its GDP. Half of Mali’s citizens earn less than $1.25 per day, below the poverty line defined by the World Bank. According to the United Nations, Mali is the 12th poorest country in Africa.
