AA/Bamako/Amarana Maiga
The United Nations General Secretariat called on Monday for the “immediate release” of the 46 Ivorian soldiers detained in Bamako since July 10, reaffirming its “deep concern” regarding their detention.
This is what emerges from a UN note to correspondents published on Monday and consulted by the Anadolu Agency.
“The United Nations Secretariat expresses its deep concern over the continued detention since July 10 of Ivorian soldiers in Bamako,” said the same source.
The United Nations also reiterated “their deep gratitude for the contribution of Côte d’Ivoire to United Nations peace operations and to MINUSMA, in particular” before calling for “the immediate release of the detained Ivorian soldiers in the spirit of fraternal relations between the peoples of Côte d’Ivoire and Mali”.
“In this regard, he (the General Secretariat, editor’s note) strongly supports all efforts aimed at facilitating this release as well as the restoration of confidence and the promotion of good neighborliness between the two countries,” it says.
As a reminder, the Government of the Transition of Mali announced, last July, the arrest of forty-nine (49) Ivorian soldiers in Bamako, including thirty belonging to the special forces, qualified as “mercenaries”. Three of them were released.
The Ivorian Head of State, Alassane Ouattara, seized the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), for an extraordinary meeting, with a view to achieving the release of the 46 soldiers still detained in Bamako. This extraordinary session was held last Thursday in New York. The West African Organization has decided to send a high-level mission to Bamako composed of the three Heads of State, Macky Sall from Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo from Ghana and Faure Gnassingbé from Togo to request the release of the soldiers. This mission is expected Thursday or Friday in Bamako.
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