The 49 Ivorian soldiers detained in Bamako were charged with “attempt to affect the state security”. Abidjan assures that these soldiers were on a mission for the UN.
Le Monde with AFP
The process with a view to obtaining the release of the 49 Ivorian soldiers held in Bamako, Mali, for more than a month, had been announced as potentially “long” by the Ivorian government spokesman Amadou Coulibaly. Côte d’Ivoire believed that it had “favored dialogue” to hope to obtain a “happy outcome”, said Coulibaly, on August 3, after a Council of Ministers. But several Malian judicial sources said on Sunday August 14, at the France-Presse agency (AFP), that “the 49 Ivorian soldiers [had] been charged on Friday for attempted damage to state security and put under deposit warrant “. This information was confirmed by a close collaborator of the prosecutor. 2> “Judicial return in force in the file”
Côte d’Ivoire judges that its 49 soldiers were “unfairly” arrested on July 10 at Bamako airport, accused by Malian soldiers in the power to be “mercenaries” seeking to destabilize their country. What Abidjan denies, who ensures that these soldiers were on a mission for the UN, in the context of logistical support operations to the United Nations Multidimensional Multidimensional Mission for Stabilization in Mali (MINUSMA), and thus requires their release. They had to, according to Abidjan, take over from other Ivorians deployed in Mali as national support elements (nse).
On July 25, MINUSMA recognized “dysfunctions” after the request for explanations from the junta on the situation of 49 Ivorian soldiers, in a note with the United Nations header, addressed to the Malian Foreign Ministry, Authenticated to the Malian government and consulted by AFP.
“It appears that certain measures have not been followed and the mission strives to better understand how these dysfunctions have been able to occur in order to prevent them from reproducing in the future. The minusma notes that Ivorian elements were deployed in Sénou (Bamako) to ensure security at the base of the German NSEs in this same locality, instead of Timbuktu (North) where the Ivorian contingent of MINUSMA is based. “
“Justice will continue its work”
Mali and Côte d’Ivoire turned to Togolese mediation to find a “fast” outcome to the crisis. Togo thus plays the role of mediator between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, but of first negotiations, on July 28, in Lomé, did not allow to register progress. According to a source close to the discussions committed under the aegis of Togo, “the discussions however advanced have stumbled on certain points, which may explain this judicial return in force in the file”. “Justice will continue its work, but the negotiations will continue too,” she added.
This affair illustrates the tensions between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire, accused by Bamako of having prompted his West African partners to tighten the sanctions against the Malian military authors of two couples since 2020, finally sanctions raised in early July.