Former Malian president Moussa Traore dies aged 83

Former Malian President Moussa Traore delivers his New Year wishes speech in Bamako on December 31, 1985.

Photo credit: Francois Rojon | Afp

Bamako

Moussa Traore, who led Mali from 1968 until he was ousted in a coup in 1991, died at his home aged 83 in the capital Bamako on Tuesday, his family said.

"We are really in mourning," his nephew Mohamed Traore said.

Moussa Traore, then a lieutenant, had himself been the main instigator of a coup that overthrew Modibo Keita, the country's first post-independence president, in 1968.

More follows.