Former Malian President IBK expected in Bamako after medical treatment in Abu Dhabi
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita, was authorized on 5 September by the ruling military junta to travel to Abu Dhabi, United-Arab Emirates, for medical treatment, is preparing to return this week to Bamako with his wife, reliable sources told PANA here Tuesday.
The return of the former Malian president to his country, due normally for Wednesday, was a commitment between the National Committee for the People’s Salvation (CNSP), the ruling junta, which seized power in Mali, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The two parties had “agreed to enable the health evacuation of the former president of the Republic for humanitarian reasons for a maximum duration of one month, extensible only under medical opinion which could not exceed three months. In such a case, the medical follow up will be carried in Mali".
A dozen days after his arrest by the coup leaders who detained him at the Kati military camp, about 15 km from Bamako, headquarters of the junta, Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita had been victim of unease before being hospitalized at the Pasteur private hospital of Bamako, and evacuated to Abu Dhabi.
The former Malian president, who led the country for seven years, had been shaken from 5 June until his fall by mass demonstrations held by the 5 June movement – rally of Patriotic forces (M5-RFP) who demanded his resignation and that of his government for “bad governance” and “mismanagement” of the multifaceted crisis shaking Mali since 2012.
The movement included opposition political parties and civil society associations and placed under the moral authority of influencing Imam Mahmoud Dicko, former chairman of the Malian high Islamic Council.
Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita, whose state of health has been unstable over the past few occasions, often travelled abroad to France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, particularly for medical tests.
-0- PANA GT/TBM/MSA/RA 20Oct2020
