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Police fired tear gas Saturday in Malis capital as scattered groups came out for a second straight day of anti-government protests, defying the president's latest call for dialogue.
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The turnout was far smaller than the thousands who surged through the streets Friday, briefly occupying the state television station and setting fires.
Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Saturday vowed to rapidly form a government "open to facing the challenges of the day", adding that four more people had died in the country's worst civil unrest in years.
"The president and I remain open to dialogue. I will very quickly set up an executive with the intention of being open to facing the challenges of the day," Cisse said while visiting a hospital.
Tear gas wafted into the Gabriel Toure hospital in Bamakoon Saturday, and the wounded continued to arrive. "At this moment there are more than 40,” said Djime Kante, spokesman for the hospital.
Fridays developments marked a major escalation in the growing movement against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who still has two years left in office in this West African country long destabilized by Islamic extremists.
His overnight address to the nation took a conciliatory gesture days after he had tried to appease the protesters by promising to revamp the constitutional court whose legislative election results in April have been disputed by several dozen candidates.
“I would like once again to reassure our people of my willingness to continue the dialogue and reiterate my readiness to take all measures in my power to calm the situation,” he said.
Dissolution of National Assembly
The anti-government movement still wants the National Assembly dissolved. Its name, the June 5 Movement, or M5, reflects the day demonstrators first took to the streets en masse.
While the group has officially backed down from its calls that Keita leave office, some protesters still want him gone.
Keita came to power after a French-led military operation to oust Islamic extremists from power in northern Malis towns in 2013, winning the first democratic elections organized aRead More – Source
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