Bamako raises its tone again against Abidjan on the file of the 46 Ivorian soldiers
An Ivorian soldier patrolling the streets of Abidjan, October 22, 2015 (illustration image).
© Schalk van Zuydam/AP
Text by: RFI Follow
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After the release of three of the 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested since July 10 in Bamako, observers hoped to see the tension drop between Mali and Côte d'Ivoire.
But the Malian government raised its tone on Friday in a press release following a meeting between the President of the Transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta and an official Nigerian delegation who came to plead the case of the 46 Ivorian soldiers still detained.
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It is the first time since the start of the arrest of the Ivorian soldiers that the Malian government has stated so clearly that the case will not only be resolved through the courts.
To the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Geoffroy Onyema, who came to plead the cause of the 46 soldiers still detained, Bamako thus sent several messages.
An effort required in Abidjan
“
Abidjan should no longer serve as a political asylum for certain Malian personalities who are the subject of international arrest warrants issued by the Malian justice system
”, specifies an official press release.
The Malian government goes further by considering that these wanted personalities who are in Côte d'Ivoire even intend to "
destabilize Mali
".
Clearly, we need "
a lasting solution as opposed to a one-way solution which would consist in acceding to the Ivorian request without compensation for Mali
".
For its part, Abidjan has always affirmed that its territory will never serve as a rear base to destabilize Mali and that the judicial process has rules that must be respected.
The President of the Transition, HE Colonel Assimi GOÏTA, Head of State, received in audience, this Friday, a Nigerian delegation, led by HE Geoffrey ONYEAMA, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
pic.twitter.com/3uStieB3zD
— Presidency Mali (@PresidenceMali) September 9, 2022
►Also read: Release of Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali: time for optimism
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