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Ex-Malian Diplomat Named PM in Transitional Government

VOA News

   FormerMaliforeign minister MoctarOuanehas been named the West African
   nation's prime minister as it struggles to return to normalcy following
   last month's overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

   Ouanewas named to the post Sunday by transitional President Bah N'Daw,
   who was installed by the ruling junta Friday, with coup leader
   ColonelAssimiGoitanamed vice president. Ouaneserved as foreign minister
   from 2004 to 2011, after representing Mali as its envoy to the United
   Nations from 1995 to 2002.

   The installation ofOuaneas prime minister could lead to the removal of
   sanctions imposed on Mali by the regional economic bloc ECOWAS
   (Economic Community of West'¯African'¯States) after the 75-year-old
   Keita and then-Prime Minister Boubou Cisse were arrested by military
   troops on August 18 at Keita's house in the capital, Bamako.

   Mali had been mired in months of protests led by the main opposition
   party,June 5 Movement,over an economic crisis, corruption and Keita's
   failure to quell an eight-year-old Islamic insurgency that has gained a
   foothold in central Mali. Anger also brewed over the results of 31
   disputed legislative races held in April.

   ECOWAS suspended all financial transactions between Mali and its 14
   other member states and closed their shared borders after the coup. The
   bloc hascalled forthe juntatoreturnthe countryto civilian
   leadershipandhold elections within a year for a president and prime
   ministerin exchange for ending the sanctions.

   The military has been seeking a three-year transition, to include the
   writing of a new constitution.

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