Traore was assaulted and
hit over the head when protesters found him inside the palace. The
president was later taken to the hospital where he was treated for a
wound to his head, hospital staff said.
"There were three dead
and some injured by gunshot when [Traore's] security shot at people,"
said Bakary Mariko, a spokesman for the National Committee for the
Restoration of Democracy, a group of military officers who mounted a
coup in March.
Protests were expected
after the Economic Community of West African States, which has tried to
broker a return to civilian rule after the coup, agreed to let Traore
remain in charge for a year to oversee the transition. And ECOWAS has
warned that followers of Capt. Amadou Sanogo, who led the revolt that
deposed President Amadou Toumani Toure, were threatening to derail the
agreement.
Traore's term as interim
president had been set to expire on Tuesday. Groups denouncing him
gathered Monday morning in the Place de l'Independence, in the center of
Mali's capital, Bamako.
Traore "is not staying as
president of Mali," said Youssouf Kone, the leader of several groups
demanding the interim president's resignation.
"We will stay until
Traore agrees to step down," he added. "We're going to make this the
Tahrir Square," referencing the 2011 protests in Egypt.
Just before 11 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), a group of protesters parted and moved up the hill in direction of the presidential palace. Read More
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