Former paratrooper known as ATT who is ‘used to holding elections during wars’

Malian president Amadou Toumani Toure had gained the nickname of “Soldier of Democracy” in his West African state and was preparing to cede power after elections later this month.

But he is no stranger to coups or mutinies. Mr Toure, 63, a former paratrooper known by his initials “ATT”, himself seized power in 1991, overthrowing military ruler Moussa Traore after his security forces killed more than 100 pro-democracy demonstrators.

But he quickly earned acclaim by organising polls the following year and a democratic handover to an elected civilian president.

Swapping his red beret and fatigues for flowing civilian robes and a Muslim bonnet, he returned to Mali’s presidency in 2002 and was re-elected for his second and final five-year term in 2007. Already hailed as a respected African statesman and peacemaker following his 1992 democratic handover, he was called upon in 1997 to broker a reconciliation between mutinous and loyalist troops in the Central African Republic. But these conciliatory skills appear to have failed him with young soldiers in his own army.

Toure faced protests last month in Bamako over his response to a Tuareg rebellion in the north but appealed to Malians in the south not to attack Tuaregs living there. He had also insisted Mali would hold its presidential election as scheduled in April, despite the Tuareg rebellion. “We are already used to holding elections during war,” he said. He also rejects the rebels’ goal of independence for three northern regions.

Pascal Fletcher