"Mali does not deserve this," interim Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra said of the latest violence to strike the country.
Already reeling from a Touareg rebellion and military coup, Mali suffered yet another setback Monday (May 21st) when demonstrators stormed President Dioncounda Traoré's offices and assaulted the interim leader.
Traoré was briefly hospitalised and is expected to survive, according to medical sources quoted by AFP. At least three protestors were killed in the melee when security forces opened fire, according to France's Le Figaro.
The demonstrators were protesting a deal reached with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Sunday that extended Traore's term to twelve months to allow time for democratic elections. Mali's military junta had previously insisted on the constitutionally mandated 40-day interim period.
The Journal Du Mali daily reported Monday evening that thousands of demonstrators from pro-military associations and a number of chiefs of political parties, union leaders, and young activists took to streets in Bamako and went to the Independence Square, the International Conference Centre and then to the president's offices in the Koulouba area.
The protestors were reportedly chanting slogans calling for his departure and supporting coup leader Amadou Sanogo.
"The situation is now somewhat calm, but Mali's future is shrouded in much ambiguity," journalist Makan Koné, head of Maison de la Presse and editor-in-chief of the Nouvelle Liberation daily in Bamako, told Magharebia. "This situation is frustrating for all of us and we hope that all actors will work to restore things to normal because this is not in anyone's interest."
He added that the turmoil was "the most dangerous chaos and unrest since the fall of former President Moussa Traoré," a reference to the 1991 coup and subsequent instability.
Bamako resident Ibrahimia Bobe told Magharebia by phone that some demonstrators were carrying coffins with President Traoré's name written on the side. Others chanted, "We don't want Dioncounda Traoré as interim President; ECOWAS has to respect our will," and "Captain Amadou Sanogo is our President!"
For his part, Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra urged the demonstrators to be calm. "We know you're angry, but your march will have negative reflections on stability in Mali and will disappoint our partners," he said. "I hope that Mali will get past this deadlock."
Malian political analyst Moussa Miga told Magharebia that the agreement extending Traore's tenure didn't satisfy the former insurrectionists, who were forced to give in to demands by ECOWAS.
In his turn, Abu Bakr al-Sedik Ag Hami, a professor at Bamako University, blamed presidential guards for the attack. "They let the demonstrators storm the Presidential Palace, and this proves that they support the insurrectionists," he claimed. "As to the demonstration, it was organised by a group of parties that support the insurrectionists, especially parties led by certain politicians such as Ibrahim Babakr Keita and Oumar Mariko."
"The future of the Malian state has become extremely chaotic, as the parties to conflict didn't accept the results of agreement; something that threatens more chaos and manipulation of the country's future by some politicians," Ag Hami added.
"The 5,000-strong ECOWAS force must be summoned in because it's the only force capable of enforcing security and stopping the military's intervention," the professor concluded.
© Magharebia.com 2012
