With the detention of forty-nine Ivorian soldiers in Mali described as mercenaries by the authorities, Abidjan has come up with a terse statement of its own demanding their ”immediate release without delay”.
Are we heading for a showdown? Everything leads us to believe so.
Days after the arrest of its soldiers, who entered Mali illegally thanks to “two aircraft” according to the country’s transitional authorities, Cote d’Ivoire’s National Security Council convened on Tuesday under the chairmanship of President Alassane Ouattara.
In the final communiqué of the meeting dedicated to the fate of the soldiers being detained in Mali, Abidjan called for their release as soon as possible.
“Cote d’Ivoire, which has always worked within sub-regional, regional and international bodies for peace, stability and respect for the rule of law, cannot be part of a logic of destabilization of a third country,” it said.
It specifies that these soldiers are regularly registered in the Ivorian army and were in Mali, as part of the operations of the National Support Elements (NSE).
Their deployment comes “within the framework of peacekeeping missions and is well known to the Malian authorities by virtue of an agreement signed in July 2019 between Cote d’Ivoire and the United Nations”.
In accordance with a security and logistical support contract signed with the Société Sahel Aviation Service (SAS), Ivorian military personnel are present at Bamako Airport.
Since 2019, seven contingents have taken turns at the site, without any difficulty.
When the 8th contingent arrived in Mali on Sunday 10 July 2022, a copy of its mission order was sent to the Bamako airport authorities to certify the regularity of the mission, the Ivorian government said.
“No Ivorian soldier of this contingent was in possession of weapons and munitions of war when he got off the plane. The contingent’s weapons, as authorised by the UN for personal protection and self-defence and in accordance with the relevant procedures, were on a second plane,” it concluded.
The National Security Council also stated that the authorities would continue to work to maintain the climate of peace and brotherhood that has always prevailed between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, before inviting the population to remain calm and to exercise restraint.
According to information provided by the Malian government, the 49 soldiers, “including about thirty special forces, were in possession of weapons and ammunition of war, without a mission order” and would have given different versions on the reason for their presence on Malian soil.
One of them was to secure the logistical base of the airline Sahelian Aviation Services, a partner of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Minusma.
Convinced that they were dealing with “mercenaries” who “clearly wanted to break the momentum of the rebuilding and security of Mali”, the country’s authorities decided to bring them to justice.
As for the airline “Sahelian Aviation Services”, which the soldiers were supposed to secure, it was invited to entrust its protection to the Malian defence and security forces.
In the process, Bamako terminated “with immediate effect” the contract for the protection of this company by foreign forces.
TE/id/lb/as/APA