(Bloomberg) — Ivory Coast called for an emergency summit of regional leaders to push neighboring Mali’s military leadership to release 46 of its soldiers accused by Bamako of being mercenaries.
(Bloomberg) — Ivory Coast called for an emergency summit of regional leaders to push neighboring Mali’s military leadership to release 46 of its soldiers accused by Bamako of being mercenaries.
The detention of the soldiers for over two months is “likely to undermine peace and security in the region,” Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara’s chief of staff, Fidele Sarassoro, said following a security council meeting in the commercial capital, Abidjan, on Wednesday. He said that Ouattara had called for an extraordinary meeting of the heads of the 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States.
A spokesman for Mali’s government did not respond to a request for comment.
Mali accused the Ivorian soldiers of being mercenaries when they arrived in Bamako, the capital, on July 10. Ivory Coast said the soldiers were part of a support force to the 13,000-troop UN peacekeeping mission operating in the country. A UN spokesman, who confirmed the soldiers were in Mali to assist the mission, was expelled by Mali.
Read more: Mali Arrests Ivory Coast Soldiers Accused of Entering Illegally
Three female soldiers were released earlier this month by Mali’s military leadership after mediation efforts by Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe.
Mali wants Ivory Coast to hand over a number of opposition members “that benefits from the protection of Ivory Coast to destabilize Mali” including ex-president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s son Karim and two former ministers who are subject to an international arrest warrant issued by Bamako.
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