APA-Bamako (Mali) Imam Mahmoud Dicko’s passport has been confiscated by Bamako airport authorities on Thursday 22 June.
He was travelling from the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, where he was taking part in a consultative meeting of religious and traditional leaders from the Sahel and Sudan, held on 19-20 June under the theme “Building harmony among yourselves.”
The meeting was organised by the African Peacebuilding Congress, which invited Imam Dicko, who was made a permanent member of the World Islamic League and the Bureau of Ulemas of the World Islamic League in Saudi Arabia last January.
No reason has yet been given for the confiscation of his diplomatic passport. there is every reason to believe that it is linked to his current position as an opponent of the interim authorities, whose draft new constitution he criticised in a referendum held on 18 June.
On the last day of the referendum campaign, Imam Dicko attended a demonstration by the League of Imams and Scholars of Mali (LIMAMA), which openly criticised the draft and called for the removal of the word “secular” and its replacement with “a multi-faith state”, as in Lebanon.
On the same day, calls were made to reject the draft of the new Basic Law.
After his passport was confiscated, Imam Mahmoud Dicko returned home without further trouble. His supporters have promised to express their dissatisfaction to the authorities.
MD/ac/lb/as/APA