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Mali gets post-coup government, facing crisis in north

Former parliament speaker Dioncounda Traore is sworn in as Mali's interim president in the captial Bamako, April 12, 2012. REUTERS/Malin Palm

BAMAKO (Reuters) – Mali’s interim leaders named the country’s first post-coup government on

Wednesday, faced with the challenge of restoring political stability and tackling a crisis in the rebel-held

north.

Former parliament speaker Dioncounda

Traore is sworn in as Mali's interim president in the captial Bamako, April 12, 2012. REUTERS/Malin Palm

Soldiers who took power on March 22 hold all three key security posts in a 24-strong cabinet,

according to a decree signed by the interim prime minister and president and read out on state television.

The rest of

the government is made up of civilians, mostly technocrats and Malians who worked outside the country during the rule of

ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure.

A coalition of some 50 political parties and civil society groups opposed to

the junta, FDR, said on Wednesday it had not been consulted on the formation of the government.

“Soldiers occupy the

key positions when the focus should be on returning the army to the barracks,” it said in a news release, adding that while

it disagreed with the government’s make-up, it would not seek to impede its work.

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