Mali's mutinous soldiers expect president to resolve dispute with ex-junta

Mali's mutinous soldiers expect newly elected President Ibrahim Boubakar Keita to resolve the dispute with the ex-junta, a source close to the mutineers has said. The soldiers revolted on Monday in the town of Kati near the capital Bamako against some officials of the ex-junta, especially its leader Amadou Haya Sanogo, for failing to promote their ranks. In a statement, the soldiers said they decided to take up arms to "demand their right to be promoted to higher ranks and the payment of delayed allowances which had been promised by Sanogo." On Monday night, a source in Kati said the mutineers and Mali's Defense Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga held a meeting where they agreed to observe a 48-hour truce, while awaiting the return of President Keita from a trip to France to have the final say. An agreement was signed for the soldiers to put down their weapons, although a local journalist reported that "despite signing the agreement, the soldiers vowed not to put their weapons down, but promised not to use them." "The truce expires on Wednesday, beyond which the mutineers might resort to use of their weapons if their concerns are not satisfactorily addressed," the source said, adding that "Sanogo attended the Monday evening meeting between the mutineers and the defense minister." Keita was reportedly cut short his visit to Paris to return home amid the deterioration of the situation. Tuareg separatists and other northern rebels have become reactivated in recent days with gunfire erupted between the army and Tuareg fighters in Kidal and Al-Qaida's North African branch AQIM claiming a suicide attack in another northern town of Timbuktu. The tensions put Keita's government to test after he won the election weeks ago to lead the West African country to a post-war era of national reconstruction. Mali was plunged into a political crisis in March 2012, when the junta seized power in a military coup and rebels swept through the desert north soon afterwards. Since January, Mali has regained control over the north and held the presidential election to end the crisis with the help of other African countries and France, its former colonial power.