The United States on Monday praised Mali’s leaders for holding peaceful presidential elections and called on all Malians to accept the outcome of the polls.
“We commend the Malian people for their enthusiasm and engagement in this election,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told AFP.
Sunday’s vote was the first since a military coup in March 2012 triggered an Islamist insurgency in the north.
Even in the northern regional capital of Kidal, a stronghold of Mali’s Tuareg rebellion and the scene of recent deadly ethnic violence, voters cast their ballots in an atmosphere of calm, although the turnout was thought to have been low.
Washington “congratulates the interim government for holding inclusive elections and for securing a peaceful and orderly environment in which Malians were able to vote,” Ventrell said.
“We call on all candidates and parties to accept the results as representing the will of the Malian people.”
The United States was forced to suspend military aid to Mali after the coup toppled democratically elected president Amadou Toumani Toure last year, but has been helping a French operation to root out the Islamists in the north.
It also sent 58 observers to more than 120 polling stations around the country — although they were not deployed in the north.
“The United States is eager to see Mali move beyond its transitional phase to begin the process of national reconciliation in pursuit of long-term peace, security, and development,” Ventrell said.
US urges Malians to accept poll results
