BREAKING: Malian President, Ibrahim Keita resigns

Malian President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned.

Keita, on Wednesday, said he was resigning to avoid “bloodshed,” hours after his arrest by troops.

Rebel soldiers reportedly detained Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Tuesday afternoon and drove the pair to a military base in the town of Kati, near the capital Bamako, which they had seized that morning.

Jubilant crowds in the city centre gathered to demand Keita’s resignation.

They cheered the rebels as they made their way to the 75-year-old’s official residence.

Keita, who appeared in a state television broadcast midnight to declare the dissolution of the government and national assembly, said he had no choice but to resign with immediate effect.