Mali Coup | featured news

Perhaps most of all, it was like a bucket of ice water over the heads of Mali's 15.4 million people, who saw two decades of democracy collapse in just a few hours into what is rapidly becoming an ungovernable hole and a haven for al-Qaida-linked terrorists.

Mali's new interim president took office Thursday, returning the country to constitutional rule three weeks after mutinous soldiers overthrew the nation's democratically elected leader in a coup.

President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali formally resigns as part of a deal with coup leaders to end the crisis gripping the west African state.