A delegation of West African leaders has arrived in Mali in an effort to push for a speedy return to civilian government following a military coup drawn up after weeks of anti-government protests.
Cheerful opposition leaders took to the streets of the capital, Bamako, to march on Tuesday after military officials arrested Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other top government officials. But the coup was universally condemned abroad due to fears that the unrest could plague a country by increasing insecurity in further instability.
ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc that leads the chorus of international criticism, said on Thursday that the high-level mission to Bamako will work “to ensure the immediate return of constitutional order” if it demanded reinstatement of Keita following the ouster of the president and his government after the coup.
Led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan thanked the bystanders on Saturday for talks with the coups, including Colonel Assimi Goita, who has declared himself the leader of the group. The regional delegation will then meet with Keita, former Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and other holding officials, according to the ECOWAS program.
“As ECOWAS, we appreciate what is happening in Mali and ECOWAS wants the best for the country,” Jonathan told reporters after arriving in Bamako. “We are here to talk to all the key stakeholders and I believe at the end of the day we can get something that is a success for the people and good for ECOWAS and good for our community.”
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The president of Mali resigns amid military difficulty |
Following the coup, ECOWAS closed borders quickly and ended financial streams this week – a diplomat from the movement said that was as much about warning opponents at home as stabilizing Mali.
“They can not tolerate this event. They take it very personally. It is on their doorstep and they think they are next,” one regional diplomat told Reuters news agency.
The regional bloc has also said it is mobilizing a regional military force, an indication it is preparing for a military intervention in case its negotiations with the coups fail.
Adding to the international pressure, the United States on Friday suspended military aid to Mali, with no further training or support from the Mali army.
‘We won’
But on Friday, Bamako’s central square exploded in celebration as thousands of people attended a rally originally organized as an anti-Keita protest by a protest movement that led the massive rallies against him but was resumed. ‘ the victory of the Malian people “in the wake of the coup.
A man holds a banner against the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and Barkhane, an operation launched on August 1, 2014, led by the French military against Islamist groups in the Sahel region of Africa, during a protest to support the Malian Army and the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) in Bamako, Mali [Annie Risemberg/AFP]
“I’m happy! We won,” said Mariam Cisse, 38, surrounded by people draped in the national flag and blasted on vuvuzela horns.
During the rally, Ismael Wague, spokesman for the group of statesmen who call themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, paid tribute to the public.
“We just completed the work you started and we recognize ourselves in your fight,” he said.
Ahmed Idris of Al Jazeera, speaking from the capital of Nigeria, Abuja, said “the military authorities in Bamako can easily count on the support of these young men and women in Mali who have been protesting in recent weeks”.
‘Transitional Council’
The coups have said they welcome ECOWAS ‘visit, but have not spoken of Keita returning to power. The military officers have promised to control a transition to elections within a “reasonable” time.
“A transitional council, with a transitional president who becomes military or civilian” would be appointed, Wague told France 24 television on Thursday.
Keita, first elected in a 2013 land flood this year after a similar military coup, saw his popularity decline after his 2018 re-election amid a rapidly deteriorating security situation in parts of the country where armed groups joined al- Qaida and ISIL are active.
Thousands of UN and French troops, along with soldiers from five Sahel countries, are deployed to try to stave off the bloodshed that has made large swaths of Mali ungovernable and spilled into neighboring countries, including Burkina Faso and Niger.
Although dissatisfaction with the conflict, coupled with expected corruption and Mali’s financial problems, sown for a while, the focus of the current crisis was a decision by the Constitutional Court in April to reverse the results of parliamentary polls for 31 seats. movement that saw candidates with Keita’s party re-elected.
Protesters under the umbrella of the so-called June 5 Movement began calling out the streets to take Keita’s dismissal. The protests turned violent in July when a security forces collapse killed at least 14 protesters and bystanders in three days of unrest, according to law enforcement groups.
Keita meanwhile offered concessions and regional mediators went in, but the opposition coalition made it clear that it would not accept anything short of his departure.
The ECOWAS visit to Mali comes after the UN peacekeeping mission in the country said a human rights team gained access to Keita and other detainees on Thursday.
The coups also released former Economy Minister Abdoulaye Daffe and Sabita Mahalmoudou, Keita’s private secretary, who called the movement “proof that we respect human rights”.
While Keita and Cisse do not have a television, radio or telephone, other detainees are in a training center, where they sleep on mattresses and have a TV, according to witnesses from the visit.
Keita, 75, looked “tired but relaxed”, they said, describing his conditions as “acceptable”.
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