- Title: MALI: President beaten during palace occupation
- Date: 22nd May 2012
- Summary: BAMAKO, MALI ( MAY 21, 2012 ) (REUTERS ) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE RUNNING TOWARDS PRESIDENTIAL PALACE PEOPLE IN FRONT OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE SHOUTING "DOWN WITH DIONCOUNDA" PEOPLE IN FRONT OF DESTROYED GATES OF PALACE PEOPLE WALKING INSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNNAMED MAN, SAYING: "Us ordinary people are saying 'No' to Dioncounda, and it's not for ECOWAS
- Embargoed: 6th June 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mali
- Country: Mali
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA8VPU2258PD4SOGJ3JBVW7CARF
- Story Text: Mali's caretaker president Dioncounda Traore was beaten up and hospitalised after hundreds of protesters stormed his palace on Monday (May 21) to demand his resignation, officials and several protesters said.
A spokesman for the soldiers behind a March 22 coup said Traore's close-protection officers had killed three people in the attack, in which protesters entered parts of the palace compound unopposed and tore up pictures of Traore.
Mali is struggling to cope with the aftermath of the coup and a subsequent rebellion in its desert north. Captain Amadou Sanogo, who led the military coup, agreed at the weekend to drop objections to Traore remaining in charge but crowds took to the streets on Monday calling for him to quit.
"Us ordinary people are saying 'No' to Dioncounda, and it's not for ECOWAS to decide instead of us, and tell us who the president is for the transition. We decided to come to Dioncounda because we've had enough, and I think we won. Inshallah, the fight goes on," said a man who was protesting at the presidential palace in Bamako.
Resolving the political crisis in the capital Bamako is a pre-requisite for foreign help in efforts to retake control of the north, now in the hands of separatist and Islamist rebels, including some al Qaeda fighters.
Sekou Sidibe, a witness to the attack on Traore, said that Traore had received injuries to the face and had been escorted to hospital by the country's interim prime minister and his bodyguards.
An aide to Traore said later that he had left hospital and had returned to his personal residence. It was not immediately clear when he would return to the palace compound.
"We don't want him anymore. That's enough," said another protester. Asked if it's true that Dioncounda had resigned, he said: "He (Dioncounda) just handed over a piece of paper, I don't know what it was. He betrayed us 1000 times over, we don't trust him, he will see."
Soldiers at the palace stood by as the civilians entered buildings on the compound while others clambered over armoured vehicles parked nearby. Some protesters parked their motorbikes and bicycles in rooms in the palace.
By mid-afternoon, the protesters had reportedly left.
The protest, reflecting longstanding popular frustrations with Mali's political class, came despite Sanogo agreeing at the weekend to let Traore remain in charge for a year to oversee the full transition to civilian rule in return for securing the status and privileges accorded to former heads of state.
ECOWAS has pledged to send a 3,000-strong force to Mali to help it restore its authority in the north, but it has not made any commitment to actually send troops to fight in the north and its precise mandate remains under discussion. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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