At the end of a meeting with his Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Mali’s transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goita, announced the opening of an investigation after alleged “recurring crimes” by the Malian army against Mauritanian nationals.
“Strange! The Malian government used this adjective to describe the “occurrence” of this type of incident, which prompted the Mauritanian government to raise its voice. The Mauritanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Malian ambassador to express its “strong protest.”
Nouakchott accused the Malian army on Tuesday of “recurring crimes” on its soil against Mauritanian citizens. Dozens of them have been missing for several days and local sources claim they were killed by Malian soldiers.
In response on Wednesday in a statement, Bamako “strongly condemned these criminal acts,” while stressing that “at this stage, no evidence implicates the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), which respect human rights and always act with professionalism in their fight against terrorism.”
Following this incident, Colonel Assimi Goita met with President Ghazouani to quickly sort out the problem and preserve the “excellent quality of relations” with this “brotherly and friendly country,” which serves as an escape route from the embargo of Ecowas countries. Through the port of Nouakchott in particular, Mauritania “provides its support particularly for the normal supply of Malian populations who are suffering from the illegal, illegitimate and inhumane sanctions of Ecowas and Uemoa,” Bamako said.
Faced with these issues, the authorities of Mali have promised to “seek and find the authors of these heinous crimes to bring them before the competent courts. The President of the Transition “has instructed the opening of an investigation to clarify the situation and has decided to send, as soon as possible, a high-level delegation to Nouakchott, in order to take vigorous action to further strengthen friendship and cooperation between our countries, particularly in the area of management of our common borders, defense and security of people and property,” the Malian government added in its statement.
ODL/cgd/fss/abj/APA