Olivier Salgado has been given three days by the junta in Bamako to leave Malian territory.
A new episode in the tug of war between the transitional government and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) is being played out.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation instructed Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN Mission in Mali, “to leave the national territory within 72 hours.”
To justify the expulsion, Bamako cited “a series of biased and unacceptable publications by Salgado on Twitter stating, without proof, that the Malian authorities had been previously informed of the arrival of 49 Ivorian soldiers by civilian flight at Modibo Keita International Airport on Sunday 10 July 2022.”
The Malian government also noted that the official request made to Mr Salgado through the MINUSMA hierarchy since 12 July 2022 to provide proof of the statements contained in his tweet, or to make the necessary correction went ”unanswered.”
While reiterating its constant availability to maintain dialogue and continue cooperation with all its international partners, Foreign ministry headed by Abdoulaye Diop said that it “cannot remain silent about these actions which undermine the partnership with MINUSMA and other partners.”
On 10 July, 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested at Bamako airport.
The transitional government accused them of being “mercenaries whose aim is to break the momentum of rebuilding Mali and the return to constitutional order.”
They have since been placed at the disposal of state prosecutors to be tried.
On Tuesday 12 July, the Ivorian National Security Council met under the chairmanship of President Alassane Ouattara and called for the release “without delay” of the soldiers.
According to Abidjan, the soldiers in question were to take over from other Ivorians deployed in Mali as national support personnel, a UN procedure allowing contingents of peacekeeping missions to call on external providers for logistical support.
As such, they were to provide security for the logistics base of the Sahel Aviation Service (SAS) airline, the Ivorian government said.
ARD/te/id/lb/as/APA