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The officials’ release was a demand from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which this week lifted sanctions against Mali.
Former Malian Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other officials and military personnel detained during the August coup have been released, according to a statement from Vice President Colonel Assimi Goita.
The statements had taken place on Wednesday, Goita said Thursday on the public radio station Radio Nacional de Mali.
Although a transitional government was appointed after the August 18 coup, Goita, who led the coup, has remained in government as vice president in charge of security and defense issues.
The release of the officials was one of the demands of international powers, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which this week lifted economic sanctions against Mali after the appointment of the transitional government.
Senior officials had been detained since the removal of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, alarming Mali’s foreign partners, who feared it would further destabilize Mali and undermine a joint campaign against fighters in the Sahel region.
The former head of the national assembly, Moussa Timbine, and eight generals are among those released, said the statement issued by the vice president late Wednesday.
“However, those affected remain at the disposal of the judicial authorities,” he said.
Former Defense Minister Ibrahima Dahirou Dembele, former Security Minister M’Bemba Moussa Keita, as well as former Army Chief of Staff Abdoulaye Coulibaly are among those released, according to Goita.
The announcement comes two days after ECOWAS lifted the sanctions imposed on Mali in the wake of the coup that deposed Keita and his government.
The bloc had been pressuring Mali’s new interim government to release all military and civilian officers arrested during the coup.
Mali’s interim government is headed by transitional president Bah Ndaw, who served as defense minister from 2014 to 2015 and held various other military positions, with Goita as vice president.
ECOWAS is also calling for the dissolution of the namesake National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) that led the coup and is still led by Goita.
The transitional government is expected to hold elections in 18 months.
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