President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Touré, receiving French edition of “An Inconvenient Truth.” Sidi El Moctar Cheguer (President of the African Network of Environmental Journalists) also presented him with a copy of the letter from Al Gore (via Tom Stokes, standing between Cheguer and Touré) supporting the Conference for West African Journalists (Bamako, May 5-7).

Amadou Toumani Touré’s early career was in the Malian military. In 1991 he was part of a military coup (against the heavy-handed 23-year military rule of General Moussa Traore) and briefly headed a transitional government which then oversaw the transition to a democratic one. He is widely praised for having voluntarily stepped down. While remaining in the military (until 2001), he went on to serve as an envoy for Kofi Annan and did some work with Jimmy Carter. In 2002 he was elected president and was reelected in 2007.