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The general public, as well as an opposition coalition, have been calling for Keita to resign and appear to be welcoming the detentions, as crowds of people could be seen celebrating the news on the streets of Bamako and showing their support for the military. The opposition coalition also backed the mutineers, saying that the developments were not a coup d'état but "a popular insurrection."

The dramatic developments in the West African nation follow massive anti-government protests demanding Keita's resignation over a grinding economic crisis, perceived government corruption and an inability to successfully combat armed jihadist groups in the country's north.

The detention of a president, who enjoyed support from France - Mali's former colonial power - and its western allies has set off alarm bells for both the UN and the African Union.

The military said they staged Tuesday's coup to prevent the Western African nation from "sinking into chaos," and invited social and political movements to take part in creating the conditions for new elections.

"We are not keen on power, but we are keen on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organize general elections to allow Mali to equip itself with strong institutions within the reasonable time limit," a spokesman for the military group calling itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People said in a TV address aired by the state broadcaster.

The French armed forces will pursue military operations against Islamic fighters in France's former colony Mali, despite the ousting of the president two days ago by a coup, Paris has said.

Concerns are growing that the coup could disrupt a military campaign against the jihadists, who are linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), which are operating in northern and central Mali and in West Africa's wider Sahel region.

"The Barkhane operation, asked for by the Mali population and authorized by the UN Security Council, continues," France's Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly tweeted on Thursday.

France has had around 5,000 troops in five West African countries since 2014, as part of Operation Barkhane. Supported by regional armies, they patrol the Sahel region, including Mali, where Paris intervened in 2013 against an Islamist uprising. The military deployment reportedly receives logistical support from the US Africa Command and intelligence from the US drone base in Agadez, Niger.

• The war on Mali: What you should know
• Imperialist powers escalate war in Mali
• Mali massacre raises questions about French operations inflaming ethnic tensions
• The U.S. was operating in Mali months prior to French incursion: Meet the "intelligence and security command"
• The conflict in Mali has nothing to do with fighting terrorists

Mali itself, like much of Africa is rich in raw materials. It has large reserves of gold, uranium and most recently, though western oil companies try to hide it, of oil, lots of oil. The French preferred to ignore Mali's vast resources, keeping it a poor subsistence agriculture country. Under the deposed democratically-elected President Amadou Toumani Toure, for the first time the government initiated a systematic mapping of the vast wealth under its soil. According to Mamadou Igor Diarra, previous mining minister, Malian soil contains copper, uranium, phosphate, bauxite, gems and in particular, a large percentage of gold in addition to oil and gas. Thus, Mali is one of the countries in the world with the most raw materials. With its gold mining, the country is already one of the leading exploiters directly behind South Africa and Ghana. [6] Two thirds of France's electricity is from nuclear power and sources of new uranium are essential. Presently, France draws significant uranium imports from neighboring Niger.

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© GlobalResearch.ca
...compared with USAFRICOM Pan-Sahal Initiative map of 'terror threat' in the Sahara today.

[...] Washington clearly had this energy-rich and resource-rich area in mind when it drew the areas of Africa that need to be "cleansed" of alleged terrorist cells and gangs. At least now AFRICOM had "a plan" for its new African strategy. The French Institute of Foreign Relations (Institut français des relations internationals, IFRI) openly discussed this tie between the terrorists and energy-rich areas in a March 2011 report. [27]