BAMAKO
Malian Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra has stepped down following his arrest.
Diarra was arrested on Monday evening by soldiers who seized power in a coup in March. Following his arrest, he announced that he resigned from his post on the state television.
He was sent to the military barrack in Kati province and it was announced that Diarra was getting ready to leave for Paris, before arrested.
Diarra, organized a demonstration last week against UN Security Council's (UNSC) resolution on launching an military operation for expelling the armed forces from the north of the country.
Tension had been escalating between the soldiers and Diarra, the civilian prime minister soldiers were forced to appoint when they handed back power to a transitional government.
Diarra is a noted astrophysicist who has worked on several NASA space programmes and served as Microsoft's chairperson for Africa.
Since armed forces took hold of the north of Mali in January, a military intervention was in the agenda of some of the European countries led by France as well as neighboring countries.
France, presented a plan to UNSC envisioning "the training of Mali military, deploying an international force in the country and a political reconciliation".
