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Manchester United sign Sancho on five-year deal from Dortmund

23, July 2021

Manchester United sign Sancho on five-year deal from Dortmund 0

Manchester United have signed England winger Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, the Premier League club announced Friday.

No fee for the five-year contract was disclosed but British media reports said Sancho had moved from Germany in a deal worth £73 million ($100 million) — which would make him the second-most expensive English player of all time behind new United team-mate Harry Maguire.

“I’ll always be grateful to Dortmund for giving me the opportunity to play first team football, although I always knew that I would return to England one day,” Sancho told manutd.com.

“The chance to join Manchester United is a dream come true and I just cannot wait to perform in the Premier League,” the 21-year-old added.

“This is a young and exciting squad and I know, together, we can develop into something special to bring the success that the fans deserve.”

His move to Old Trafford follows a year-long pursuit by United, who were reportedly put off at first by Dortmund’s £100m valuation of Sancho, a former Manchester City youth team player.

The deal was also announced just weeks after Sancho, together with new United team-mate Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka, received racist abuse following their penalty shoot-out misses in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy at Wembley.

United finished second, 12 points behind local rivals Manchester City, in last season’s Premier League but Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects his side to benefit from Sancho’s “untapped” talent — even though the player scored 50 goals and recorded 57 assists in 137 appearances for Bundesliga club Dortmund.

“Jadon epitomises the type of player I want to bring to the club, he is a forward player in the best traditions of Manchester United,” said Solskjaer.

“He will form an integral part of my squad for years to come and we look forward to seeing him blossom,” the United manager added.

“His goals and assists records speak for themselves and he will also bring tremendous pace, flair and creativity to the team.

“Old Trafford will give him the platform he needs to release his untapped talent and perform at the highest level.

“For a player of his age, Jadon has already achieved a great deal and showed the courage to go and prove himself abroad.”

Sancho is United’s second pre-season signing after reserve goalkeeper Tom Heaton joined on a two-year contract earlier this month.

Source: AFP

Haiti holds funeral for slain president Moise under tight security

23, July 2021

Haiti holds funeral for slain president Moise under tight security 0

Mourners were set to offer their final farewell to Haiti’s slain president Jovenel Moise under tight security on Friday, just over two weeks after his assassination rattled a country mired in poverty, corruption, and political instability.

Moise, who was 53 when he was shot dead in his home in the early hours of July 7, is set to be interred in Cap-Haïtien, the main city in his native northern region.

According to the official program, the funeral is due to begin in the morning and last for several hours, with large screens set up for mourners to follow the event.

Moise’s widow is expected to be joined at the event by the late president’s relatives, cabinet members, and current and former senior government officials, as well as religious figures and representatives of trade unions and civil society groups.

Cap-Haitien was calm Thursday, but a day earlier clashes broke out when police chief Leon Charles visited. He was booed and heckled while inspecting security arrangements for the funeral.

Local residents blame the police chief for not protecting Moise, whose wife Martine was seriously wounded in the gun attack seemingly carried out by a group of mainly Colombian retired soldiers – with no injuries to the presidential guard.

So far, more than 20 people have been arrested, most of them Colombians, and police say the plot was organized by Haitians with political ambitions and links outside the country.

But the case remains murky, with many unanswered questions.

Haitians have expressed shock that those tasked with protecting the president and his home failed him so abjectly. The impoverished Caribbean nation is riddled with crime and powerful gangs – problems that were exacerbated during Moise’s presidency.

His death has rekindled long-standing tensions between the north of Haiti and the west, which in part stems from historic racial divisions dating back to French colonialism between northern blacks who are descendants of slaves and lighter-skinned Haitians of mixed race living in the south and west.

Some residents have even set up barricades on roads leading to Cap-Haitien to keep people from the capital Port-au-Prince from attending the funeral.

“We are going to do everything we can to honor him the way he deserves, in line with his importance for our city,” said Cap-Haitien Mayor Yvrose Pierre.

Praying for justice

A Catholic mass was held for Moise Thursday at the city’s cathedral, followed by a procession in his honor.

“His assassination saddened me very much. I prayed for his soul. I prayed that justice will be rendered,” said a woman standing near the cathedral, who only gave her first name Carine.

Memorial ceremonies in honor of Moise have been held this week in Port-au-Prince as well.

Attending one of them was new Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was sworn in Tuesday and vowed to restore order and organize long-delayed elections as sought both by Haitians and the international community.

The US State Department on Thursday named a new special envoy to Haiti tasked with helping to usher along the organization of elections.

Haiti currently has no working parliament and only a handful of elected senators. The interim government installed this week has no president.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Henry on Thursday to express Washington’s “commitment to supporting the Haitian people following the heinous assassination” of Moise.

Blinken also “emphasized the importance of establishing the conditions necessary for Haitians to vote in free and fair legislative and presidential elections as soon as feasible.”

Washington earlier said those elections should be held later this year.

France on Thursday called for legislative and presidential elections to be held “as soon as conditions allow it.”

Moise had ruled Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, by decree after legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed in following multiple disputes.

As well as presidential, legislative and local elections, Haiti had been due to have a constitutional referendum in September after it was twice postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: AFP

Biya slips into long coma following a delicate brain surgery in a Geneva clinic

22, July 2021

Biya slips into long coma following a delicate brain surgery in a Geneva clinic 0

There is total panic at the Unity Palace as Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, also known as the monarch, sinks into a long disturbing coma following a delicate brain surgery in a Geneva clinic.

A source close to the government has hinted Cameroon Concord News that Mr. Biya, 88, was diagnosed with a blood clot in the brain a few weeks ago, but could not have emergency surgery in Cameroon where he was on a long lockdown because for the 40 years he has been in power, he has not built a single world-class medical facility that can handle such a complicated surgical operation.

Given his age, the doctors attending to the 88-year-old dictator are concerned that he might not emerge from his long coma, and this is really bad news for his family and political supporters who view him as the only person who can rule the country.

Mr. Biya’s situation is all the more disturbing because of other conditions he has been living with. The ailing Biya is reported to have high blood pressure, a heart condition, and diabetes which are all threatening to cut short his life anytime soon.

Over the years, he has become a colony of diseases due to political stress and despicable lifestyle choices. In recent weeks, the Cameroonian strong man and one of the longest serving presidents on the continent has been losing weight uncontrollably and this is a huge concern to his doctors.

Though still in power, the senile president’s collaborators have been fighting for prominence as many think they can replace him in case he passes away.

But none of those fighting has openly demonstrated his ambitions. They all know the consequences. Many before them are languishing in jail and many have died just because they dreamt that they could be the country’s next president.

The Lion Man, as he is known by many Cameroonians, does not forgive anybody who thinks of replacing him while he is still alive. The penalty for such misplaced ambition is a long torturing jail term that usually results in death in one of the country’s terrible maximum security jails.

Meanwhile, while the dying president was being wheeled into an operating room, his young and vibrant wife, Chantal Biya, was spotted in France attending the Cannes Film Festival.

Spotting her signature  flaming red hair and a red dress to match, Cameroon’s first lady seemed relax and calm as if her husband’s declining health was of no concern to her.

She seemed to have accepted that the man, who conquered her heart a quarter of a century ago, could join his ancestors anytime soon.

Cameroonians are all monitoring things from a distance. They know Mr. Biya’s death will trigger a deadly fratricidal war in the country as various political and ethnic groups seek to take control of power in Cameroon.

More will be yours as we   get the information.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Madagascar says several people arrested over foiled plot to kill president

22, July 2021

Madagascar says several people arrested over foiled plot to kill president 0

Prosecutors in Madagascar said Thursday they had foiled an attempt to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina and made several arrests.

“Several foreign and Madagascar nationals were arrested on Tuesday, July 20, as part of an investigation into an attack on state security,” prosecutor Berthine Razafiarivony said in a statement released overnight.

There was “a plan to eliminate and neutralise various Madagascan figures, including the head of state,” Razafiarivony said.

“At this stage of the investigation, which is ongoing, the prosecutor-general’s office assures we will shed light in on this case,” she added.

Two French nationals are among those who were arrested on Tuesday, diplomatic sources told AFP.

The two suspects are reputedly retired military officers, according to the Taratra, a local news agency operation to the Communications ministry.

During the country’s Independence Day celebrations on June 26, the gendarmerie announced that they had foiled an assassination attempt on their boss, General Richard Ravalomanana, who is also Rajoelina’s right-hand man.

Rajoelina, 47, first seized power in March 2009 from Marc Ravalomanana with the backing of the military.

He won the last vote in December 2018 beating his main rival and predecessor Ravalomanana in an election beset by allegations of fraud.

The former French colony has had a long history of coups and unrest since gaining independence from France in 1960.

The island is internationally famed for its unique wildlife and vanilla but is heavily dependent on foreign aid. Nine out of 10 people live on less than $2 a day.

The country has been under a lockdown since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year and its southern region is in the grips of a famine.

Source: AFP

La republique du Cameroun forces receiving heavy blow in Southern Cameroons

22, July 2021

La republique du Cameroun forces receiving heavy blow in Southern Cameroons 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government Dabney Yerima says French Cameroun army soldiers and their colonial administrative apparatus is receiving a heavy blow in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia amid successful gains made by Ambazonia Restoration Forces.

Speaking exclusive to Cameroon Concord News on Tuesday, Vice President Yerima said “The enemy is now receiving a heavy blow in Ground Zero.”

Dabney Yerima also noted that French Cameroun Divisional Officers sent by the Biya Francophone regime to Southern Cameroons are shocked by the rapid defeat and are now banning the use of bikes instead of informing Yaoundé to withdraw its forces from the Ambazonia homeland.

“After building a church in French Cameroun, Paul Atanga Nji no longer have the money to finance the Atanga Nji Boys in Southern Cameroons. The Southern Cameroons La Republique surrogate is now witnessing the collapse of his mercenaries in Ambaland” Dabney Yerima added.

The Biya French Cameroun regime backed by France and the Buhari Fulani administration in Nigeria launched a devastating war on English speaking Cameroonians four years ago, with the goal of crushing the Southern Cameroons uprising and quest for an independent state.  Ambazonia Restoration Forces have however, gone from strength to strength against the French Cameroun occupation forces, and Biya and ruling CPDM crime syndicate bogged down in the Ambazonian homeland.

This week, Ambazonia Restoration continued to gain ground killing five Cameroon government police officers in Bali.

Cameroon Concord News understands battles are ongoing on the fronts of the Northern and Southern zones in Ambazonia.

Last week, the French Cameroun governor of the Western Region of La Republique du Cameroun said Amba fighters killed a cream of gendarmerie officers at Babajou.

By Fon Lawrence

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Church schools targeted in Ambazonia

22, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Church schools targeted in Ambazonia 0

Schoolchildren are deliberately attacked, abducted and killed in Cameroon’s increasingly violent Anglophone crisis. An independent investigation has verified 13 recent attacks using satellite images, finding both government soldiers and armed separatist groups responsible. Catholic and Presbyterian-run institutions are among the schools targeted by all sides in the conflict. It is thought that two hundred schools have been attacked or set on fire since 2018.

In 2016, the Francophone-dominated government of President Paul Biya tried to impose a French curriculum on English-speaking schools, while demanding that the French legal system replaced English Common Law in courts in the Anglophone regions of North West and South West.

In response, armed groups demanding an independent Anglophone nation called Ambazonia called for a boycott of schools and a weekly “ghost towns” that shuttered the economy. A warning from the Ambazonian Restoration Forces appeared on Facebook in August 2019, telling parents not to send their children to school, saying, “You will have only yourselves to blame.”

After the attacks began, parents withdrew their children, forcing education in the Anglophone regions to cease. The UN estimates that one million youngsters (out of a total Anglophone population of six million adults and children) have been out of school for almost four years. The Cameroon ministry of basic and secondary education recently announced that 70,000 children have now returned and 400 schools have reopened. However, it is understood that those schools are in towns and cities, whereas institutions in more remote areas are reluctant to reopen for fear of attack.

The Bellingcat report draws on years of research by the Cameroon Anglophone Database of Atrocities, working with the Berkeley Human Rights Center. Many of the attacks have taken place in the diocese of Bamenda which is twinned with the UK diocese of Portsmouth. St Augustine’s Secondary College in Kumbo was attacked in May 2020; in October 2020, men on motorcycles armed with machetes and guns killed seven children and wounded a dozen at Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba; and in January 2021, the Presbyterian secondary school in Mankon, Bamenda was torched.

A Presbyteran school in Nkwen near Bamenda was subject to two attacks in 2018 during which almost 100 teachers and children were abducted, interrogated and held for ransom. They were eventually released unharmed. In November 2020, the students and teachers at Kulu memorial College were forced to strip and then run into the bush before the building was burned. In the North West region, the wing of a Catholic school in Kambe was burned in February 2021.

Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists. It’s report, “How Schoolchildren became Pawns in Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis,” is based on painstaking work by volunteers at the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis Database of Atrocities and the Berkeley Human Rights Center, videos posted on social media by civilians, soldiers and armed groups, and opensource material and satellite imagery.

The Bellingcat report quotes teachers who “walk a thin line” between the armed separatists enforcing the boycott and the government security services which are trying to end the ban. In addition, teachers say they are targeted by criminal gangs extorting money. The Voice of America quotes Nji Samuel Kale of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, saying, “The community and the Christians help us run the schools. The teachers, we must attest, they have been enduring a lot. They have shown a lot of resilience.”

Most of the separatist leaders live overseas, meaning that their children are not missing school. They refuse to back down unless they are seen to win concessions from the government. Meanwhile the Swiss Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue continues to offer to host inclusive peace talks. Both the government and armed separatist groups have declined to participate.

Before he died earlier this year, Cardinal Christian Tumi warned that violently enforcing the schools boycott was turning the Anglophone population against the separatists. He mentioned a girl whose hand was amputated by separatists as she went to sit her exams. Cardinal Tumi was kidnapped and interrogated by an armed Anglophone group in November 2020. He was later released unharmed but died in April 2021, age 90.

Historically, the Catholic Church, as well as Anglican and Presbyterian missions, have run schools and clinics across Africa in the absence of comprehensive, good quality education and health provision by governments. In addition, faith-based entities are estimated to provide between 30% and 70% of health services. There are no reliable figures for how many schools are provided by faith groups on the continent.

Source: Independent Catholic News

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The CPDM government is coming to terms with reality!

22, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: The CPDM government is coming to terms with reality! 0

The Southern Cameroons crisis is into its fifth year and the government is gradually coming to terms with the fact that there will never be any military victory.

The unfortunate situation, which started as a protest by teachers and lawyers in 2016 in the country’s two English-speaking regions, could have been avoided if the government had prioritized dialogue over military violence.

Government officials, negotiating for the government, had not noticed that the wall of fear had crashed and most Southern Cameroonians had had enough of a system that had brought them more pain than happiness.

One of the demands of the protesting lawyers was the restoration of the federal system to ensure that the English educational and legal systems were preserved, but the government which is used to addressing issues through brutality and intimidation, resorted to its old ways, thinking that it could easily call off the bluff in a couple of days.

Little did it know that a determined people, no matter how poorly organized, could give a military a good run for its money. A war the government thought would last for a few days is now in its fifth year and it has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 Cameroonians – both civilians and soldiers.

Over the last two months, the country’s military has recorded some of the most ridiculous setbacks, as Southern Cameroonian fighters have changed their tactics. The fighting, which initially looked like conventional warfare where government forces had a clear advantage, has become a hit-and-run operation wherein Southern Cameroonian fighters are dictating the terms.

The fighters who started with machetes in 2016 have morphed into experienced strikers, using some of the most sophisticated war machines the continent can afford. Over the last four years, they have grown in experience and are, indeed, a few slices above the country’s soldiers whose mastery of the terrain is at best mediocre.

With bombs and other remote devices, Southern Cameroonian fighters are inflicting significant damage on the country’s military and this new situation is causing a change of mind in the corridors of power in Yaoundé. 

Federalism that used to be a crime can now be discussed openly. Government ministers are now open to such discussions and they are even seeking ways to get their message across to the fighters in the bushes and the Southern Cameroonian Diaspora which is more interested in total independence than in the fake federalism that is being dangled by a government that is wont to speaking from both sides of its mouth.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Washington, a separatist leader who elected anonymity said that both the fighters on Ground Zero and the Diaspora will not accept anything short of total independence.

“We cannot settle for any fake federalism that will in future create us brand new problems. We have lived in this union for more than five decades and we now know how Francophones think. We are culturally different, and it will be wise for us to go our separate paths. Their perspective of governance and leadership is diametrically different from what we know. Leaders are supposed to be accountable to the people, but this is not what obtains in the United Republic of Cameroon. We are still determined to fight, and we now know we can beat the Cameroon military,” the separatist leader said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

“The Yaoundé government has killed thousands of our people, and this makes it hard for us to be in any union with a bunch of people who have no regard for the rule of law and human rights. Those who have been killed by the forces of occupation are martyrs and we will never forget them. If we opt to remain in this union, then we have betrayed the thousands of young men and women whose lives have been cut short by a brutal government that should be listening to its citizens. We have done our best to live with our Francophone brothers, but we must point out that it is hard to live with them under any political dispensation,” the hardcore separatist leader underscored.

“We must continue to turn the heat on those poorly trained soldiers until their masters ask them to withdraw. This war should not have taken place if the Yaounde government had prioritized dialogue over military violence. Complaining should never be a crime. It should instead be a channel through which issues that can create conflicts could be discussed and solutions found. In Cameroon, we seem to be cohabiting with animals who think that they can dictate everything to their citizens. We are not settling for any short of independence and anybody who will negotiate for federalism will be viewed as an enemy and he will be dealt with accordingly,” he stressed.

From every indication, there is no end in sight. The separatists seem to be frozen in their position and this clearly implies that more blood will continue to flow in the towns and villages in Southern Cameroons.

However, members of the country’s ruling party, the CPDM, hold that something can still be done. In their view, all is not lost. Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Yaounde on Monday, a senior CPDM member said that news outlet such as the Cameroon Concord News Group which have clearly aligned with the separatists should change their editorial policy and help to deliver a message of peace and hope to all Cameroonians who are desirous of peace in the country.

“We know a lot of mistakes have been made by the government. The war should not have happened. The government thought old ways would be able to bring back peace to the country, but it is discovering that as more people die and with the passage of each day, it is becoming very hard to envisage a military victory. We know many people have been killed. We also know that many soldiers have been killed, but after all the destruction, we all should start beating the drums of peace so that we can start to rebuild our country and that starts with the media that is inimical to the government. We should change our narrative and editorial policies so that the notion of federalism can be given a chance for it to become popular,” the senior CPDM member who elected anonymity said in Yaoundé.

“Who does not make mistakes? We should understand that the state will always be the state and if we must walk away from the mess that is claiming many lives, we must start to talk about reconciliation and negotiations. The country is bleeding money, and it is losing its soldiers and equipment. There is fear all over Yaoundé, fear that the military might one day rebel against the government and this could result in a much bigger disaster as our country’s institutions may not survive such a tough stress test,” he underscored.

“We are seeking ways of reaching out to some of the toughest separatist leaders so as to sell our proposal of federalism to them. The government is ready to meet Southern Cameroonians halfway. Decentralization has failed and it will be preposterous to continue to put it on life support. Its rightful place is in the cemetery. Our country does not need it anymore. It has brought a lot of pain and enmity in our country. We all must learn the lessons of history. The world has changed, and the government is slowly acknowledging that it had erred, and it is willing to make amends so that things can get back to normal. The war is expensive financially. The human cost is inestimable. We cannot continue to let some of those little differences to continue to divide us. We know the Cameroon Concord News Group can help spread the word. The government has a message for Southern Cameroonians. It wants to discuss with the leaders of the rebellion and federalism will be on the agenda. After close to five years of senseless killings, we must agree that war will not address any issues. We must try something new,” he said, adding that it is necessary for Ambazonian leaders to accept the hand of peace the government is stretching out.

The government is gradually coming out of its arrogance and confusion. Many people had advised it to prioritize dialogue over war, but full of itself, it felt it could wrap up things in a few days. It is finally acknowledging that other methods could have delivered better results, but it is still ashamed to come out openly to apologize and call for peace. How easy will it be to negotiate with people it had branded as terrorists? Pride goes before a fall and the current situation in Cameroon clearly underscores the adage.

It is up to the government to seek better ways to sell its ideas. It has a lot of questions to answer. How will it justify the killing of thousands of innocent civilians in a war that could have been avoided? How will it look at the families of those falling soldiers and tell them that it is sorry for such a grave error that has robbed them of their loved ones? These are just some of the questions the government will have to answer if and when those negotiations take place.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Football: Eto’o excited about Qatar World Cup

21, July 2021

Football: Eto’o excited about Qatar World Cup 0

Qatar Legacy Ambassador, Samuel Eto’o, looked forward to the Tokyo Olympics and the first FIFA World Cup to be held in the Middle East and Arab world.

“I have no doubt that it will be the most beautiful World Cup ever organised. And I have one wish – to witness a final featuring Cameroon v Qatar for a once in a lifetime experience,” said the former Cameroon international.

Eto’o, who was part of a Gold medal-winning Cameroon side at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, was also excited about the upcoming Olympic in Tokyo.

“Anyone who is passionate about sport will naturally follow the Olympic Games, it is a major sporting competition and those who love sport will not miss it,” he added.

The Cameroonian legend has been a regular visitor of Qatar and is not the only high-profile footballer to hold a role as a Qatar 2022 Legacy Ambassador with the Al Sadd head coach Xavi, Brazil legend Cafu and Australia’s Tim Cahill also in the same role.

Source: Africa News

Hundreds of Ugandans given fake Covid jabs

21, July 2021

Hundreds of Ugandans given fake Covid jabs 0

At least 800 people in Uganda were given fake coronavirus vaccines — some injected with water — in a scam that involved “unscrupulous” doctors and health workers, government officials said Wednesday.

The counterfeit jabs were administered over May and June during a deadly surge of the coronavirus in the East African nation, when new infections soared to record highs of about 1,700 cases per day.

The fraudsters targeted people looking to pay for immunisation, including corporate employees, at a time when vaccines were in short supply, said Dr Warren Naamara, the director of a health services monitoring unit under the presidency.

“Some unscrupulous individuals with intentions of making money, duped members of the public into a fake Covid-19 vaccine exercise,” Dr Naamara told AFP.

“We have arrested two medical workers in the scam, and one medical doctor is on the run.”

He said those conned into getting a fake vaccine — around 800 people — should not be alarmed as tests indicated the vials contained nothing dangerous.

“Some had water in them,” he added.

The scammers charged recipients between 80,000 and 500,000 Ugandan shillings (around $25-$120 / 20-100 euros) for a fake shot, officials said.

The health ministry said Wednesday that the government was providing free and approved Covid-19 jabs at designated vaccination sites.

On June 18, as coronavirus cases and deaths in Uganda surged to record highs, President Yoweri Museveni announced a freeze on all public and private transport for 42 days, and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew to try and drive numbers down.

The veteran president warned that hospitals were full and not coping with the outbreak.

Since then, infection numbers have dipped, with 252 cases reported on Wednesday.

Uganda has overall recorded 91,162 infections, of which 2,425 have been fatal, since the pandemic began, according to the health ministry’s latest tally Wednesday.

Source: AFP

Mali opens probe into attempted assassination of interim president

21, July 2021

Mali opens probe into attempted assassination of interim president 0

Mali on Wednesday said it had opened a probe into an attempt to assassinate military strongman Assimi Goita, the figure behind two coups in less than a year in one of Africa’s most troubled countries.

“An ill-intentioned individual tried to physically harm” Goita after prayers for Eid al-Adha at Bamako’s Grand Mosque, prosecutor Bourama Kariba Konate said in a statement.

The act “comes under the categories of harming state security and attempted murder,” he said.

An inquiry has been opened “to shed light on this event.”

Goita was whisked away after a man armed with a knife lunged at him, an AFP reporter at the scene saw.

The leader later appeared on state TV to say he was doing “very well” and downplayed the significance of the assault.

“That’s part of being a leader, there are always malcontents,” he said. “There are people who at any time may want to try things to cause instability.”

A suspect who was taken away from the mosque remained in custody on Wednesday while police interviewed witnesses, commissioner Sadio Tomoda told AFP.

His identity was not revealed, but Tomoda said late Tuesday that he was a teacher, without elaborating.

Bamako was calm after the assault, according to AFP journalists. Wednesday was a public holiday to mark the Eid Muslim festival.

– Political turmoil –

The attack capped months of political turmoil in a country that has rarely enjoyed stability since gaining independence from France in 1960.

Goita, a special forces colonel in his late thirties, headed a putsch last August that ousted elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita after weeks of protests over graft and a bloody jihadist insurgency.

The junta, in the face of international condemnation, handed power to a civilian-led transitional government which promised to restore civilian rule in February 2022.

But in late May, Goita, who was vice president under the transitional government, ousted the president, Bah Ndaw, and premier Moctar Ouane, saying they had sought to “sabotage” the handover.

In June, with Goita as interim president, a new government was unveiled, with military figures in key roles.

As the African Union and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS piled on pressure, Goita vowed the government would “uphold all its commitments” and pledged to stage “credible, fair and transparent elections.”

Mali’s neighbours and allies have been viewing the crisis with disquiet, fearing the impact on efforts to stem a jihadist insurgency that is unfurling across the Sahel.

The bloody campaign erupted in the north of Mali in 2012, and has since spread to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

France, the mainstay of the anti-jihadist operation, has been especially critical of the military takeover in Mali.

It suspended military cooperation after the second coup and then announced a major drawdown of its 5,100-man Barkhane mission.

Source:  AFP

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