Mali's Top Court Declares Coup Leader Goita Interim President
Voice of America
BAMAKO, MALI - Mali's constitutional court on Friday declared Assimi Goita, the colonel who led a military coup this week while serving as vice president, to be the new interim president.
The ruling raises the stakes as West African leaders prepare to meet on Sunday to respond to the takeover, which has jeopardized a transition back to democracy and could undermine a regional fight against Islamist militants. Goita became interim vice president after leading the coup last August that overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. He ordered the arrests on Monday of President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane. Both resigned on Wednesday while still in detention. They were later released.
This handout photo from Taiwan Presidential office taken and released March 13, 2025, shows Taiwan President Lai Ching-te speaking in Taipei.
A woman places a candle at the statue of late Pope John Paul II at the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, in Rome, March 12, 2025.
FILE - Sebastien Lai, son of pro-democracy Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, poses for a portrait in central London on Nov. 26, 2024. FILE - Jimmy Lai is escorted by Correctional Services officers to get on a prison van before appearing in a court in Hong Kong, Dec. 12, 2020.
FILE - Journalist Blessed Mhlanga speaks in Harare, Zimbabwe, in October 2022. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)
Specialists work on the facade of a damaged apartment building following a drone attack in Moscow, March 11, 2025.
Local officials and navy personnel attend a joint Iranian, Russian and Chinese military drill in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 12, 2025. (Iranian Army Office via AFP) Chinese navy troops attending a joint naval drill with Iran and Russia stand on the deck of their warship in an official arrival ceremony at Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, on March 11, 2025.
FILE - A man injured in an explosion at an M23 rally is evacuated from the scene in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Feb. 27, 2025. The Angolan government said on March 12, 2025, that the M23 rebels and the DRC government will enter direct peace talks.
FILE - A demonstrator holds a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan during a rally in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Feb. 27, 2025.
In this image taken from video on March 12, 2025, observers and security officers look over the aftermath of a car bomb explosion the previous day at a hotel in the central Somali city of Beledweyne. Beledweyne, Somalia
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he arrives for Mauritius' 57th National Day celebrations at the Champ De Mars, Port Louis, Mauritius, March 12, 2025. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and his Mauritius counterpart Navin Ramgoolam pay homage after laying a wreath at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden during his State visit, in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, March 11, 2025. FILE - Sailors walk on the deck of the INS Imphal, a stealth guided-missile destroyer, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Dec. 22, 2023.
Police officers guard the Palace of the Republic after Bosnian prosecutors ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, March 12, 2025. FILE - Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Dec. 29, 2023.
FILE - Georgia's jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili appears via video link during a court hearing regarding anti-government protests in 2007, in Tbilisi, Oct. 27, 2023.