Former Mali president Toure, democratic icon toppled in coup, has died

Former Mali President Amadou Toumani Toure has died at the age of 72, an aide said on Tuesday.

He died in Turkey on Monday night, his chief of staff Seydou Cissouma told Reuters, providing no further details.

Toure was an army general who won acclaim for pursuing democratic reforms before being toppled by a military coup in 2012,

His life, in many ways, symbolised the stop-start nature of democracy in the West African country.

His successor Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was overthrown in another coup this August.

Widely known by his initials ATT, Toure was a former paratrooper who seized power in 1991.

This after military ruler Moussa Traore’s security forces killed more than 100 pro-democracy demonstrators.

He organized democratic elections the following year and handed over power to a civilian president, earning him the nickname of “Soldier of Democracy”.