Career
The leader of the Alliance for Solidarity in Mali, he served in the government of Mali as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Amadou Toumani Touré from 5 April 2011 until the March 2012 coup d"état. Later he was Minister of Defense from 2013 to 2014. Along with several other ministers, he was arrested during the coup when rebel soldiers stormed the presidential palace on 22 March 2012.
On 25 March, he began a hunger strike along with 13 other arrested officials to protest his detention.
He was replaced by Ba North"Dao following the army"s defeat at the hands of Tuareg rebels in Kidal in May 2014. Although some blamed him for the defeat, others believed he was being used as a scapegoat.