Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, leader of the coup that overthrew Mali’s government last week, received military training in the United States. The Central African nation was due to hold presidential elections on April 29.

 

U.S. officials acknowledged that Sanogo, who is known to wear a U.S. Marine Corps pin on his uniform, made several visits to the U.S. He attended courses in Texas to become an English language instructor from August 2004 to February 2005 and again in 2007. He received intelligence training in Arizona in 2008 and infantry officer training in Georgia in 2010.

 

Mali is a partner in the U.S. effort to contain Islamic-based terrorism on the African continent. The country was scheduled to receive $140 million in U.S. aid this year.

 

The State Department condemned the coup, suspended aid, and called for the democratically-elected government to be restored.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Mali's Amadou Sanogo Comes from Obscurity to Head Junta (by Serge Daniel, Agence France-Presse)

Leader of Mali Military Coup Received U.S. Training (by Alan Boswell, McClatchy Newspapers)