Mali coup leaders want military-led transitional body to rule for three years

The junta (military group) that seized power in Mali wants a military-led transitional body to rule for three years and has agreed to release ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, according to a news report by Daily Nation.

"The junta has affirmed that it wants a three-year transition to review the foundations of the Malian state. This transition will be directed by a body led by a soldier, who will also be head of state," a source in the Ecowas delegation in capital Bamako told.

"The government will also be predominantly composed of soldiers" under the junta's proposal, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

The source added that the junta has agreed to free president Keita, who has been detained along with other political leaders since the coup on Tuesday, and he will be able to return to his home in Bamako.

"And if he wants to travel abroad for treatment, that is not a problem," the Ecowas source said.

Prime minister Boubou Cisse, who has been detained with Keita at a military base outside the capital where the coup began, would be moved to a secure residence in the city, the source said.

A junta official has confirmed the decisions on the fate of Keita and Cisse, as well as that the three-year transition would have a military president and a government mostly composed of soldiers.