By opening the first edition of the national reconciliation week, the transitional authorities in Bamako want to achieve “social cohesion in Mali” while maintaining the extradition requests of compatriots exiled in Abidjan.
Colonel Assimi Goïta kicked off the National Reconciliation Week (SENARE) on Thursday September 15 at the International Conference Centre in Bamako (CICB).
This event will be celebrated until 21 September on the theme “Let’s make diversity an asset for social cohesion in Mali,” a Sahel country plagued by jihadist violence and ruled for two years by a junta.
According to the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, “a week like the one we are launching now is a chance to chase away the demons of division and terror so that the prospects of development, a factor of collective fulfilment, can germinate.
“It is therefore our duty to create the conditions for a return to our secular values in order to reconcile communities, reconcile the State and citizens, in short, reconcile all the components of our country in order to bring about a more solid national unity, because it is anchored in the values of mutual listening and forgiveness. It is at this price that we could usefully direct our energies and our intelligence towards the real development of our nation,” he added.
The Malian leader encouraged his compatriots to “focus on what brings us together” while demanding that Abidjan extradite certain Malian politicians who are under arrest warrants.
These are Karim Keita, the son of former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was overthrown by the military in 2020, and former ministers Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly, Mamadou Igor Diarra, former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and banker Babably Bah.
Bamako warns ECOWAS
After releasing in early September three women out of 49 Ivorian soldiers detained for “being mercenaries” Bamako had asked for a necessary “counterpart” to Abidjan, referring to the extradition of “these personalities (who) benefit from the protection of Cote d’Ivoire to destabilize Mali.”
But Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, after chairing the National Security Council (CNS) last Wednesday, refused to accede to the request of Colonel Assimi Goïta, denouncing it as an “unacceptable blackmail” before calling for a summit of the Community of West African States (Ecowas) for the release “without delay” of the 46 Ivorian soldiers still detained in Bamako.
The 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested on July 10 in Mali, presented as “mercenaries,” then charged in mid-August with “attempting to undermine the external security of the state” and formally detained.
Abidjan still holds that these soldiers were on a mission as part of logistical support operations for the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
But Mali, which is coming out of a six-month ECOWAS embargo, warned on Thursday evening against any “instrumentalization” of this sub-regional organisation in the crisis with neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.
The Malian government, in a statement read by acting Prime Minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, said that the case of the 46 Ivorian soldiers “is purely judicial and bilateral” and the mediation initiated by Togo is “the only framework for settlement.”
Accusing the Ivorian authorities of being driven by a “desire for adversity” and “having transformed a judicial case into a diplomatic crisis,” Mali called on them not to “shirk their responsibility” and warned that it “is in no way concerned by this procedure before the regional body.”
ODL/te/lb/as/APA