Mali has announced a new government of national unity, five months after a military coup ousted the country's elected government.
The new government replaces a transitional government created in April that was plagued by infighting.
It has 31 posts and retains several ministers who are members of the military junta that staged the recent coup, including the heads of defense, security and interior.
The March 22 coup ousted the elected government just weeks before a presidential poll. It also led to a power vacuum in the north of the country that allowed Islamists to take over large swaths of Mali.
The new government remains under the leadership of interim Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra.
Interim President Dioncounda Traore announced plans to revamp the transitional body in late July. He had just returned from France where he had spent two months recovering after being beaten by protestors in Bamako.
Western and regional states have been concerned about the stability of the transitional government because of infighting and alleged meddling by the former military regime.
