The UN Security Council has called for the immediate release of Mali's interim President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and other transitional leaders, strongly condemning their arrests. This was said in a statement issued Wednesday.
"They [Security Council members] called for the safe, immediate and unconditional release of all detained officials and urged elements of the defense and security forces to return to their barracks without delay," the statement read.
UNSC members also called for the resumption of a civilian-led transition in Mali, which should lead to elections and constitutional order within 18 months under a transitional charter.
Earlier, Agence France-Presse, citing the adviser to Mali's Vice President Assimi Goita Baba Cisse, reported that Mali's President and Prime Minister would be released gradually along with the other arrested leaders of the transition.
On Wednesday, the agency reported, Cisse announced the resignation of the President and Prime Minister of Mali. On the evening of May 24, they were detained at their residences by a military group and taken under convoy to the Kati army base near the capital.
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Based on materials from TASS