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ECOWAS suspends Mali

March 28, 2012

West Africa's regional bloc has suspended Mali in the wake of a coup by renegade soldiers. ECOWAS has also put peacekeepers on standby and implied that military intervention in Mali is an option.

https://p.dw.com/p/14T84
Soldiers from the presidential guard, said to be divided between those supporting the coup and those loyal to Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, patrol a street in Bamako
Image: dapd

At an emergency meeting in the Ivorian city of Abidjan on Tuesday, representatives from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended Mali and agreed to send a delegation of African presidents to the country within 48 hours "to try to restore constitutional order."

"Dialogue and concertation will be our primary instruments in the search for a solution, but we shall not hesitate to use any other option dictated by circumstances," said ECOWAS chief and Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

The delegation will be made up of Ouattara and five other leaders - Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan, Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaore, Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Niger's Mahamadou Issoufou and Benin's Yayi Boni.

The bloc said it was putting peacekeepers on standby in the event the military junta was unwilling to return power to the democratically elected president, Amadou Toumani Toure.

The president of the ECOWAS commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso, described the security situation in Mali as "extremely serious and complex."

"The security situation in the country, provoked by the rebellion and the coup, dangerously threatens not just the peace and security in Mali, but also peace, stability and development in all ECOWAS members," he said.

AL 2703 Mali after the coup - MP3-Mono

The military takeover by disgruntled soldiers last week has been roundly condemned around the world, with the United Nations, European Union and African Union all calling for a return to civilian rule.

Meanwhile, the acting head of an EU delegation in Mali had reportedly met with the coup leaders to ask for a return to constitutional order.

ncy/mr (AP, dapd, Reuters, AFP)