The Transitional government in Mali has given foreign forces 72 hours to leave the base of the company Sahel Aviation Services (SAS) located within the airport of Bamako, the capital.
The Malian authorities have indicated that the accommodation and reception of foreign soldiers on this base are sources of « risks for the internal and external security » of the country, and were not provided for in the agreement for the use of the said base. signed in 2018.
The forces of the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma) are concerned, in the sense that they use, like other non-Malian forces, this base as a logistics hub. Would they be directly targeted by the Bamako decision, which came about three weeks after the July 10 arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers who landed at Bamako airport?
The case of these Ivorian soldiers caused a diplomatic crisis between Abidjan and Bamako. While Côte d’Ivoire argues that these are troops who came as part of the Minusma, Mali considers them rather as mercenaries because the objectives of their arrival on Malian territory were not clear to the eyes of the Malian government.
Mediation has been launched by Togo in Lomé to try to “find a quick solution” to this dispute between the two neighboring West African countries. But some sources have suggested that the first negotiations led by Togolese President Faure Yassingbé would have ended in failure, the two conflicting states having been unable to agree.
As a reminder, the junta in power in Mali ordered, on July 20, the expulsion of the spokesman of the Minusma, accused of having published on Twitter « biased and unacceptable information » about the 49 Ivorian soldiers.
By OMA Newsletter N° 805 of 03/08/2022
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
