Mali court confirms Keita poll win
What you need to know:
- According to Mr Cisse, the polls were marred by irregularities but he declined to lodge an official complaint to the court and conceded defeat.
- Army officers overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22, 2012.
- The return to democracy has allowed France to begin withdrawing 4,500 troops it sent in January to oust the Islamists.
BAMAKO, Tuesday
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is Mali's new leader, after a court confirmed that he had won the presidential election run-off.
The court said he won with 77.6 per cent of the total vote beating his rival former finance minister Soumaila Cisse.
The interior minister announced the provisional results of the August 11 vote on Thursday last week.
According to Mr Cisse, the polls were marred by irregularities but he declined to lodge an official complaint to the court and conceded defeat.
MILITARY COUP
Keita, 68, a former prime minister and a veteran of the political scene in Bamako, takes office on September 4.
He is now tasked with leading the west African nation out of a 17-month political crisis sparked by a military coup.
Army officers angry at the level of support received to fight the separatist Tuareg rebellion in the north overthrew the democratically-elected government of President Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22, 2012.
In the chaos that followed, the Tuareg seized control of an area larger than France before being ousted by Al-Qaeda-linked groups who imposed a brutal interpretation of Islamic law on the local population, carrying out amputations and executions.
The return to democracy has allowed France to begin withdrawing 4,500 troops it sent in January to oust the Islamists.
