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| - Struggling with poverty and a jihadist insurgency, Mali also finds itself in a deepening political crisis after its interim president and prime minister were sacked less than 10 months after a military coup. Modern Mali is the biggest country in West Africa and one of the poorest on the continent, with more than 40 percent of its population of close to 20 million living in extreme poverty. But it also boasts desert cities of exotic legend and a long imperial history. The mainly arid nation, partly irrigated by the Niger River, became the hub of the Ghana empire for more than five centuries from around 700 AD while Islam spread into the region. In the north where Mali juts deep into the Sahara, the city of Timbuktu grew into a centre of glittering scholarship and cultural exchange just as it became an important post for traders in gold, salt and slaves. Mansa Musa, Mali's 14th-century emperor, is regarded as the richest man who ever lived. Despite being the world's fourth largest exporter of gold and a major producer of cashew nuts, Mali is one of the world's poorest countries, ranked 184th out of 189 by the UN. The double blow of last year's coup and the pandemic shrank growth to two percent from 5.1 percent in 2019. The World Bank warns that both its rapid population growth and climate change threaten agriculture and food security. The fall in cotton production and the poor performance of the agricultural sector have also contributed to worsening poverty levels. Tuareg tribes, one of Mali's around 20 ethnic groups, have long been nomads in the Sahara. Some have pushed for independence for the northern region they call Azawad. In 2012, Tuaregs of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) rose up and were joined by the Islamic extremists of Ansar Dine, who piggy-backed on the rebellion in an uneasy alliance. Swathes of the country fell to jihadists, including the three main northern towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, sparking global concern for the fate of historical monuments and manuscripts. In January 2013, France intervened militarily to help recapture the north from the Islamists. The MNLA and Ansar Dine were driven out of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal. But armed groups remain active in the north, carrying out guerilla attacks, while conflict has spread to central Mali. The UN peacekeeping force MINUSMA was deployed in Mali in 2013. In 2017, five French-backed nations agreed to an anti-jihadist force, the G5 Sahel, bringing together Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger as well as Mali. Despite this the violence continues. Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, hundreds of thousands have had to flee their homes while the jihadists have also spread terror to Niger and Burkina. The former French colony became independent in 1960 and was led by Modibo Keita for eight years before he was ousted in a military coup by Moussa Traore, who was in turn toppled in 1991. The following year Alpha Oumar Konare became Mali's first democratically elected president. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, known as "IBK", came to power in 2013 and was re-elected five years later. He was ousted by young army officers on August 18, 2020 after weeks of protests over perceived government corruption and his handling of Mali's jihadist insurgency. After the 15-nation West Africa bloc ECOWAS threatened sanctions, the military junta handed power to a caretaker government that pledged to reform the constitution and stage elections within 18 months. But on Monday, disgruntled army officers upset with a government reshuffle detained the transitional president, Bah Ndaw, and his prime minister, Moctar Ouane. On Tuesday, strongman Assimi Goita, the colonel who led Keita's overthrow, said the pair had been stripped of their duties for seeking to "sabotage" the transition. bur-eab/fg/ri
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