Army colonel Assimi Goita has been introduced as Mali’s new military strongman after a mutiny forced President Boubacar Keita out of power.
“Let me introduce myself, I am Colonel Assimi Goita, chairman of the National Committee for the salvation of the People,” he said Wednesday.
He led the coup that ousted the president.
“Mali is in a situation of socio-political crisis. There is no more room for mistakes,” Goita, surrounded by armed military men, told journalists.
His entourage told AFP that Goita, who is in his forties, had until now headed Mali’s special forces based in the centre of the west African country, torn for the last five years by jihadist and sectarian violence.
There’s still no word on what will happen to Mr Keita going forward.