Mali’s former president Amadou Toumani Toure dies at 72

Mali’s former president Amadou Toumani Toure has died at the age of 72.

Senegalese President Macky Sall on Tuesday confirmed the death of the former leader on Twitter. Mali’s government hasn’t yet reported the Toure’s death, but said it is preparing a statement.

Toure served as Mali’s president from 2002 until March 2012 when he was deposed by a military coup. He then lived in exile in the neighboring West African nation of Senegal until December 2019 when he returned to Mali.

Toure died Monday night while he was hospitalized in Turkey, according to a family member who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not yet authorized to speak to the press. The former Malian president had undergone heart surgery in Bamako before being evacuated to Turkey, said the relative.

Born in Mali’s central Mopti region in 1948, Toure later became a lieutenant-colonel in Mali’s army. He was appointed the head of the transitional committee after a 1991 coup d’etat that deposed former president Moussa Traore and served as the head of state during the transition to democracy. He then became known as the “soldier of democracy.”

Toure then served as a general under Mali’s president Alpha Oumar Konare, who was elected in 1992. In 2002, he resigned from the army to run for president and defeated Soumaila Cisse in a second round of votes.