By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ivory Coast on Tuesday demanded the release of 49 of its soldiers arrested in Mali on Sunday at the country’s main international airport in the capital Bamako.
Mali’s military government accused the troops of arriving the country without permission, saying some of their passports indicated non-military professions, and that they gave differing versions of their mandate.
This may be seen as negating efforts to restore civil rule in Mali and draw condemnation of other African leaders.
The junta said the soldiers would be considered mercenaries and charged as such, alleging that Ivorian authorities were unaware of their arrival.
But Ivory Coast said on Tuesday that the soldiers were deployed as part of a security and logistics support contract signed with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali in July 2019, and it demanded their immediate release.
They were the eighth rotation sent to Mali under the convention and their mission order had been sent to both airport authorities and the junta before arrival, Ivory Coast’s national security council said in a statement.
The spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, Olivier Salgado, confirmed this information on Twitter.
Ivory Coast added that none of the soldiers carried arms or war munitions as they disembarked, but that a second plane contained arms for self-protection authorised by the United Nations.
Interim President Colonel Assimi Goita said on Twitter that he had spoken by telephone with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and reiterated the importance of partner nations respecting Mali’s sovereignty.
The military junta ruling Mali since August 2020 has been at odds with regional and international neighbours for failing to hold promised elections and delaying the return to constitutional rule.
