Goodluck Jonathan (2L) walks at the International Airport in Bamako
upon his arrival on August 22, 2020 next to by Malick Diaw (L), the
Vice President of the CNSP (National Committee for the Salvation of
the People). ANNIE RISEMBERG / AFP
A delegation of West African leaders headed by former
Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has arrived in the
Malian capital, Bamako on a mission to try to push for a speedy
return to civilian rule after a military coup in the troubled
nation.
The delegation plans to meet members of the new junta as
well as ousted president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on
Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling
with a brutal Islamist insurgency and widespread public discontent
over its government.
Mali’s neighbours have called for Keita to be reinstated, saying
the purpose of the delegation’s visit was to help “ensure the
immediate return of constitutional order”.
“ECOWAS appreciates what is happening in Mali and ECOWAS wants
the best for the country,” Jonathan said after his
arrival.
Goodluck Jonathan (C) walks at the International Airport in Bamako
upon his arrival on August 22, 2020 next to by Malick Diaw (4R),
the Vice President of the CNSP (National Committee for the
Salvation of the People) ANNIE RISEMBERG / AFP
“We’re going to discuss with all stakeholders and I think at the
end of the day we’ll come out with something that is good for the
country, good for ECOWAS and good for the international
community.”
A delegation official said they would meet members of the junta
and later Keita, who is being held with prime minister Boubou Cisse
in Kati, a military base northwest of Bamako where the coup was
unleashed.
Adding to the international pressure, the United States on
Friday suspended military aid to Mali, with no further training or
support of the Mali armed forces.
‘We won’
But thousands of jubilant Malians took to the streets of Bamako
on Friday to celebrate the toppling of Keita, who was reelected in
2018 but became the focus of widespread discontent.
The crowds gathered in Bamako’s central square draped in the
national flag and blasting on vuvuzela horns.
group of Malian soldiers during a protest to support the Malian
army and the National Committee for the Salvation of the People
(CNSP) at the Independence square in Bamako, on August 21, 2020, 3
days after the military overthrow of the President. ANNIE RISEMBERG
/ AFP
The rally, originally organised as an anti-Keita protest by a
loose coalition that has led months of mass rallies against him,
was recast to “celebrate the victory of the Malian people”.
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“I am overjoyed! We won,” said Mariam Cisse, 38.
Speaking at the rally Ismael Wague, spokesman for the junta
which calls itself the National Committee for the Salvation of the
People, paid tribute to the public.
“We merely completed the work that you began and we recognise
ourselves in your fight,” he said.
‘Transitional council’
The junta has said it welcomes the ECOWAS visit but has not
talked of restoring Keita to power.
“A transitional council, with a transitional president who is
going to be either military or civilian” would be appointed, Wague
told France 24 television Thursday.
Keita won election in a landslide in 2013, presenting himself as
a unifying figure in a fractured country, and was re-elected in
2018 for another five-year term.
vice-president of the CNSP (National Committee for the Salvation of
the People) smiles at a crowd of supporters as he arrives escorted
by Malian soldiers at the Independence square in Bamako, on August
21, 2020. ANNIE RISEMBERG / AFP
But he failed to make headway against the jihadist revolt that
has left swathes of the country in the hands of armed Islamists and
ignited ethnic violence in the country’s volatile centre.
Thousands of UN and French troops, along with soldiers from five
Sahel countries, have been deployed to try to stem the
bloodshed.
In a sign of the continuing challenge facing the country, four
soldiers were killed by an explosive device in the center of the
country.
The ECOWAS visit to Mali comes after the UN’s peacekeeping
mission in the country said a human rights team had gained access
to the ousted president and other detainees on Thursday.
A junta member said the coup leaders had released former economy
minister Abdoulaye Daffe and Sabane Mahalmoudou, Keita’s private
secretary, calling the move “proof that we respect human
rights”.
While Keita and Cisse have no television, radio or phone, other
detainees are in a training centre, where they are sleeping on
mattresses and have a TV, according to witnesses to the visit.
The 75-year-old ousted president “looked tired but relaxed,”
they said, describing his conditions as “acceptable”.
Tuesday’s coup was the second in eight years, and has heightened
concern over regional stability as its jihadist insurgency that now
threatens neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.
AFP
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