Senegal: Ousmane Sonko's comments on the situation in Mali make people react
Ousmane Sonko in Dakar on March 16, 2021. © AFP - Seyllou
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1 min
In Senegal, the support of Ousmane Sonko, one of the leaders of the opposition, to the president of the transition in Mali, Assimi Goïta, did not go unnoticed during his press statement where he officially announced his candidacy in the February 2024 presidential election.
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With our correspondent in Dakar,
Théa Ollivier
If he is elected President of the Republic, Ousmane Sonko
announced Thursday, August 18,
that he would not hesitate "
to dispatch troops to support
" the Malian people and "
to put an end to this gangrene
", referring to the jihadist groups that are spreading in the country.
An announcement that followed the expression of his support for the president of the Malian transition Assimi Goïta, after accusing President Macky Sall of having "
repatriated the few Senegalese elements who were on the Malian theater
".
These remarks made the Senegalese army react, which indicated that it had not withdrawn but had carried out a "
periodic relief of the contingents engaged
" within the framework of Minusma, a UN mission in Mali.
Pape Mahaw Diouf, spokesman for the presidential coalition Benno Bokk Yaakaar, believes that it is "
irresponsible to have presented Macky Sall and ECOWAS as acting against Mali
" and accuses Ousmane Sonko of "
attacking the image of Senegal on an international scale
".
For its part, the Senegalese Democratic Party, a member of the inter-coalition of the opposition, refuses any comment but recalls its principles, that is to say the union of African States, the freedom of the Malian people to choose its leaders and its right to live sovereignly in peace.
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