Mali’s military chief Col Assimi Goita on Monday said he is open to dialogue to resolve the issue with Ivory Coast related to the detention of the 49 Ivorian soldiers who were arrested at the airport in Bamako earlier this month, reported The BBC.
Col Goita said he was ready to resolve the dispute with the Ivory Coast government through diplomatic means. He, however, said the negotiation would be in strict compliance with Mali’s sovereignty.
An official statement released by Mali’s military council on Monday said that Col Goïta is demanding Togo to lead a mission between the two countries to help resolve the situation.
The announcement comes as the Malian military chief held talks on issues of common interest with Togolese Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey. He lauded the support offered by the Togo government and the personal commitment of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé on the political transition in Mali.
Notably, Mali’s military government had initially said that the 49 Ivorian soldiers landed in the country without permission. It claimed that some of their passports indicated non-military professions, and that they gave differing versions of their mandate. The military said they would consider the soldiers as mercenaries and charge them as such, adding that Ivorian authorities were unaware of their arrival.
Ivory Coast has been calling for the immediate release of its soldiers, who it says were unjustly arrested. Last week, the Ivorian National Security Council said in a statement that the troops were deployed as part of a security and logistics support contract signed with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali in July 2019.
The statement added that the soldiers were the eighth rotation sent to Mali under the convention and their mission order had been sent to airport authorities and the military government before arrival.
Mali witnessed two recent military coups, one in August 2020 and the other in May 2021, creating a political crisis that coincides with an ongoing security crisis.
