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Mali Gets New Prime Minister, Government


Mali's president has asked urban planning minister Moussa Mara to form a new government after Prime Minister Oumar Tatam Ly and his Cabinet resigned Saturday.

A spokesman for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita made the announcement on state television late Saturday.

Mr. Ly had been prime minister since August, shortly after President Keita took office. Parliamentary elections were held in November and December and the new government is expected to reflect the new political composition of the National Assembly.

The 39-year-old Mr. Mara was one of the defeated candidates in the presidential election. He is the head of the political party Yelema, which means 'change' in the Malian Bambara language.

President Keita was elected last August on a pledge to unite Mali and is seeking to rebuild the nation after a coup and a rebellion by Islamists.



The West African country spiraled into crisis after a military coup in the capital, Bamako, in March 2012. Several militant groups used the confusion of the coup to assert control in the country's north, where they planned to establish an Islamist state.

The violence prompted France to intervene in its former colony. A French-led military intervention pushed the militants from power but fighters have continued to stage small-scale attacks in the north.
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