The development is another indicator of Col Assimi Goïta's intention to rule Mali after a 'transition' from military rule...

Malian junta leader Col Assimi Goïta pronounced himself 'very satisfied' on his Twitter account following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 14 June...

Meanwhile the junta provided itself with a sheen of legitimacy by holding a constitutional referendum on 18 June which five days later produced a Soviet-style result: 97% of voters approved the new constitution which concentrates more power in the hands of transitional President Assimi Goïta whose candidacy for the planned 2024 presidential elections is hardly in doubt...

That was key for the regime of transitional President Assimi Goïta which furiously disputed the findings of a Minusma investigation confirming that in March 2022 the army and its foreign allies – a clear reference to Wagner mercenaries – had murdered 500 people in the village of Moura...

Across the Sahel more broadly elements of the Al Qaida-aligned JNIM probe ever deeper into northern Benin tighten their dominance over much of Burkina Faso and continue attacks in central Mali – where Oumar Traoré chief of staff to Malian transitional president Colonel Assimi Goïta died when gunmen targeted two government vehicles near Nara on 18 April...

No RussiansMuch is being made of Traoré following his Malian counterpart's Assimi Goïta's example but apart from limiting free speech and civil rights there is little evidence...

The military government of Col Assimi Goïta is in negotiations with North Korea to build a munitions factory in Dialakorobougou 20 kilometres from Bamako according to a military source familiar with the UN's peacekeeping operation in Mali...

' The junta and Ecowas have been going back and forth on an election calendar since Col Assimi Goïta's second coup in May 2021 when the regional body imposed sanctions...

On 9 February Colonel now president too Assimi Goïta sacked commanders of the army the National Guard the directorate of Military Security Army Engineering Army Medical Services and the National Gendarmes...

In north-eastern Mali the Cadre Stratégique Permanent (CSP) coalition of largely Tuareg armed groups that signed the 2015 Algiers peace accord has suspended its participation complaining that Col Assimi Goïta's junta in Bamako has no interest in taking the accord seriously...

But Alassane Ouattara also telephoned Malian junta chief Colonel Assimi Goïta with an invitation to make an official visit – just the sort of recognition of legitimacy that Bamako had been angling for...