The three European nationals suspected of terrorism and arrested and by the Malian army have been released.
In its weekly communiqué on its counterterrorism operations, the Malian army said Tuesday that it had “arrested on April 10, 2022 five suspects, including three European nationals” in Diabaly, a town some 300 km northwest of Bamako. The document did not specify the identity of these “suspects,” but the German Foreign Ministry said the three people “are German members of an NGO, present in Mali as part of a twinning arrangement.”
“I can confirm that three German nationals were arrested this weekend in Diabaly. The embassy in Bamako has been in contact with them and has provided them with consular assistance. All have been released and are doing well,” a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, Christofer Burger, told a news conference on Wednesday. He said that the three Germans were “not on an official German mission,” but did not elaborate.
The announcement of their arrest came as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has been in Mali since Monday evening. She met with the president of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goita, at a time when Berlin is considering withdrawing its soldiers from the country.
“This morning I had the pleasure of receiving Annalena Baerbock, German Minister of Foreign Affairs. Our discussions focused on the political and security situation in Mali and the strengthening of bilateral cooperation,” said the head of the Malian military junta in a tweet.
Baerbock’s visit to Mali will end on Saturday. She will then travel to neighboring Niger, a key country in the redeployment of international military forces in the Sahel after the falling out with Bamako.
Since August 2020, Mali has been ruled by a military junta that says its objective is to create the security conditions for the regaining of territorial integrity. But since last January, the country has cut itself off from several of its partners, including the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which have imposed an embargo to force the military authorities to quickly hand over power to civilians.
While the Malian army has been accused of abuses against civilians for some time, it disputes these allegations, but insists on its “rise to power” over terrorists who are “in disarray” and whose power to cause harm is based “essentially on the planting of improvised explosive devices.”
ODL/cgd/fss/abj/APA