Ousted Malian President, Ibrahim Keita

The military coup leaders in Mali have released ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from detention, a spokesman for the junta, Djibrilla Maiga said on Thursday.

The junta, which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), said on Facebook it was “informing public and international opinion that former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been released and is currently in his residence”.

“President IBK is free in his movements, he’s at home,”  Maiga told AFP, referring to Keita by his initials, as many Malians do.

A Keita relative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 75-year-old former leader had returned overnight to his house in the Sebenikoro district of the capital, Bamako.

In the early hours of August 19, Keita appeared on national TV to announce his resignation, saying he had no other choice, and wanted to avoid bloodshed.

Former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, heading a team from the regional bloc, ECOWAS, was given access to Keita last Saturday and he said he seemed ‘very fine.’