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[Servant Corps]

Yes that's right, there was a Coup d’état (I hate the pronunciation of that word so much) in Mali yesterday, today being March 22 obviously. So apparently for a while some nomads have been rebelling in the north of Mali, and the army has been fighting them. The army asked the government for more weapons so they could go kill some more angry nomads, and the government was like no. So then the army began protesting, because the soldiers felt the government wasn't supporting them. Then some Malian government guy tried to diffuse the protest yesterday, when the soldiers were all like the equivalent of "fuck no" In bambara, 'cause that’s the lingua franca in Mali, which is ironic because French is the official language, people also speak 40 other African languages in Mali, and began to throw stones at him and bow him. He got out ok but later that day some other guys in the capital also decided they’d had enough and stormed the presidential palace, only to find out the president had left.

Here I was thinking West Africa couldn't get any worse, but then some guys in Mali decided to prove me wrong.

* Link to good summery of Malian situation provided by Servent Corps  http://sahelblog.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/on-the-apparent-coup-in-mali/ . Will add highlights of article to main body of info when I have more time
*  Link likelihood of coups provided by Servent Corps  http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/22/coups_making_a_comeback , same as above.
*links to Mali: For Mali: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/US-Joins-Condemnation-of-Mali-Coup--143839706.html

Meanwhile, the coup in Mali is still ongoing, and may still fail. There is opposition from within and without Mali to the coup plotters, and there are rumors that the leader of the coup is now dead.

What's worse than a coup is a coup that doesn't quite conclude. The rebels are certainly going to take advantage of this instability in the mean time.

The capital of Mali is calm today, so it seems that if there was a counter-coup, it must have been crushed. There is still opposition however, as arrested ministers begin a hunger strike and lawmakers condemn the coup.

At least the coup plotters are finally dealing with the insurgency by, uh...talking to them outside of a strategic city the rebels want to conquer?

Something's not right. Something's dreadfully not right. I suppose one may think "something's not right" when a coup occurred mere days before an election, but it could be that the coup plotters disliked the politicians of Mali and believed no change would occur after elections. But when you're outright negotiating with the rebels you said you were going to crush mere days ago...

I'm not sure whats happening, but I don't think there is a single representative...

The article says it all, the former soldiers are not getting the stuff they need to fight the rebels.  Not exactly a great booster for morale... and doing the coup probably did not remedy that particular problem.  So yea, may as well get out while the getting is good.

Negotiating an out for those who don't wish to join the rebellion shows that they are looking out for their own.  A good thing in my opinion, it shows that there is overall less malicious intent behind the coup nor a generalissimo deciding that he'd be a better leader.
Its something more along the lines of being backed in the corner/fed up by whatever mismanagement/logistical problems that have plagued these soldiers.

I can't say much about the rebels or anything of Mali.  No clue of the place there, but that is what I got out of the above talking to rebels article.

That's probably true. Since the rebels are well-armed and had experience fighting in Libya, I can see some military units decided to overthrow the democratic government to seize the government just for sue for peace.

The United States has cut military aid to Mali, but have not yet decided whether Mali suffered a coup or not. Officially, it's a mutiny.

EDIT: There's a news article giving us more detail on the rebels; I find this interesting.

And now the (ousted) President of Mali says he's alive and still in Mali...and worse off:

Ecowas has announced that it had put regional troops on standby in case military intervention becomes necessary.

We may be seeing an international intervention to put down this coup after all.

[Servant Corps]

I found another article explaining the coup plotters' rationale for the Mali coup, which might also be interesting.

[Servant Corps]

And Mali rebels proclaimed independence. This is going to throw a wrench into whatever plans the the coup plotters had.

[RedKing]

Where's Mali? j/k

I have to admit, I've not been paying much attention to this, for the blatantly bigoted reason that Mali has all the strategic importance of Upper Outer Bumfuckistan. 

A coup/civil war in west Africa is like a traffic accident in Manhattan.

[Servant Corps]

Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, the person who is leading Mali following the coup, has agreed to hand over power to the head of Mali's Parliament in 21 days (though this can be extended due to the war in Mali). If the transfer of power to civilians goes through unhindered, this will pave the way for the lifting of sanctions. Looks like the coup is winding down to a close, and though international diplomats must wrestle with the question of how to deal with the Mali rebels, that will probably be a long-term dilemma to worry about.

[Heron TSG]

A coup/civil war in west Africa is like a traffic accident in Manhattan.

Except that Mali has been fairly stable since it was created in 1958.

[Servant Corps]

Truth is, this thread is quickly being obsolete because the coup is over, as the coup plotters has stepped down in return for amnesty, and a new civilian leader, Dioncounda Traore, has taken power.

The Mali rebellion is still going on, but again, it's not really as sexy as 'coups', and it's probably a long-term disaster. I'm doubtful if there will in fact be interest in that rebellion; I actually had little interest myself.
---
In other news, a new coup may be taking place in Guinea-Bissau...

[RedKing]

I thought the rebels had declared an independent state of Azawad in the north?
(With the result that there's already a counter-rebellion by some non-Tuareg people in southwest Azawad who want to remain part of Mali...)

[Servant Corps]

And they did. But as nobody recognizes Azawad, I'm still going to call them "rebels".

[Yannanth]

.

[Servant Corps]

A counter-coup is happening in Mali as we speak, so it's time to restore this thread.

[Servant Corps]

And the counter-coup got crushed.

...I'm probably the only one paying attention to this.

[jester]

Im keeping an eye on it, thanks for the links.

[micelus]

*Micelus casts Thread Resurrection*

Mali Sharia state...*sigh*

[Dutchling]

*Micelus casts Thread Resurrection*

Mali Sharia state...*sigh*

The USA now have my permission to 'free' the country.