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West African leaders condemned the coup and called for the restoration of democracy, but did not impose new sanctions.
In response to the coup d’etat last week, West African leaders have suspended Mali from their regional blocs, but have not imposed new sanctions.
The leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held an emergency summit in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Sunday, agreeing to Overthrow the president and prime minister This is the second time in nine months.
Mali’s neighbours and major international powers worry that the recent insurgency will jeopardize the promise of holding presidential elections in February next year and undermine the regional struggles of armed groups linked to Al-Qaida and Islamic State (ISIS).
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shirley Ayok Bodgway said in a speech after the meeting that Mali’s suspension of ECOWAS “takes immediate effect until the deadline at the end of February 2022”, when the country’s interim leader “should Hand over to a democratically elected government”.
The EU’s final communiqué also called for the immediate appointment of a new civilian prime minister and the formation of an “inclusive” government.
However, it did not announce that its members temporarily closed the border with inland Mali and stopped financial transactions, as in the sanctions imposed after the coup d’état in August last year.
It also did not ask for new Interim President Asimi Goita Step down. The army colonel who led the August coup and last week’s uprising was declared president on Friday.
On the contrary, the statement stated that the head of the transitional government, the vice president and the prime minister should not be candidates for the planned presidential election under any circumstances. It emphasized: “The presidential election date of February 27, 2022 should absolutely be maintained.”
Goita who attended the summit did not immediately respond.
The 38-year-old special forces commander was one of several colonels who overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last year. He also ordered the arrest of Interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Mokta Waen last Monday. In the previous few hours, the cabinet was reorganized and two soldiers were excluded.
Goita, the former deputy of Endow, said that there was discord within the transitional government and that he did not seek his opinion when selecting a new cabinet according to the transitional charter to justify his actions.
Ndaw and Ouane resigned on Wednesday while still in custody and were later placed under house arrest.
ECOWAS condemned the arrest in its statement, saying it violated the mediation measures taken after the incident. August coupThe European Union requires the Malian authorities to immediately release the couple.
It also continued to express “strong and deep concern about the current crisis in Mali” and pointed out that “in the context of the ongoing terrorist attacks and security challenges related to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the agreed transition period is coming to an end. -19 Pandemic and Its terrible socio-economic impact”.
Other agencies, including the United Nations and the African Union, have also condemned the seizure of power. The UN Security Council stated that the resignations of Ndaw and Ouane were forced, and the United States has withdrawn its support for security forces.
France and the European Union threatened to impose sanctions at the same time.
French leader Emmanuel Macron stated in an interview with the Journal published on Sunday that Paris “cannot stand on the side of a country that no longer has democratic legitimacy or transition”.
He warned that if Mali moves towards “radical Islamism” under Goita’s leadership, France will withdraw its troops from Mali.
France has deployed approximately 5,100 soldiers in the area, and the operation spans five countries in the Sahel-Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
The meeting of the heads of state of ECOWAS in Ghana highlighted the long-term instability in Mali. The attackers killed four civilians and a policeman in southern Mali, an area that had barely been affected by the unrest in the country before.
An unnamed security official told AFP that before dawn, an unidentified man attacked a checkpoint near the town of Buguni, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.
A local lawmaker confirmed the attack.
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