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| - A former Malian MP under UN sanctions for links to organised crime has been appointed as special advisor to the interim legislature's president, according to a document seen by AFP on Wednesday. Mohamed Ould Mataly, from the northern town of Gao, was on Tuesday appointed as advisor to Colonel Malick Diaw, president of the National Transition Council, according to a document seen by AFP on Wednesday. Diaw was one of the leaders of the August 18 coup which ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Young army officers seized power after weeks of anti-Keita protests, which were fuelled by frustrations over perceived corruption and the president's inability to curb jihadist violence. Under international pressure, the officers in September and October handed over to an interim government which is meant to govern for 18 months before staging elections. But many have raised doubts about whether the interim government -- which remains dominated by figures with army links -- will abide by that deadline. Mataly, who was born in 1958, was sanctioned by the UN in 2019 for suspected involvement in drug trafficking. He confirmed his appointment to AFP and said that he is ready to "serve his country". Mali has struggled to quell a jihadist insurgency which first emerged in the country's north in 2012, before spreading to the centre of the country, and neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have died in the conflict to date. ah-sd/eml/pvh
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