Togolese President Gnassingbe In Mali As Efforts To Free Ivorian Soldiers Increase

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe, who is acting as a mediator in a diplomatic row between Ivory Coast and Mali over 46 detained Ivorian soldiers, visited Bamako on Wednesday, the Malian presidency said in a statement, reported The Africa News.

Last month, a Malian court sentenced the Ivorian soldiers, accused of being mercenaries, to 20 years of imprisonment, despite a threat of sanctions from West African leaders.

According to the Malian presidency’s statement, Gnassingbe had held a working session with Malian junta leader Assimi Goita.

After the meeting, the Togolese presidency released a statement that said that the two leaders had discussed regional issues of common interest.

Last year in July, Malian authorities detained 49 Ivorian soldiers after they arrived at Bamako airport to provide backup security for a UN peacekeeping mission. Three women soldiers, who were freed later on, have now been sentenced to death in absentia. The court found the troops guilty of an attack and conspiracy against the government and seeking to undermine state security.

The West African bloc ECOWAS had given a deadline of January 1 to the Malian junta to free the troops or face sanctions.

An official at the Malian presidency told AFP that the Togolese president had called for a presidential pardon for the Ivorian soldiers, before heading back to Abidjan.

In his New Year’s address to the nation, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara promised that the imprisoned soldiers will return to their country soon.

Ivory Coast has completely denied that the soldiers were mercenaries. Last month, an Ivorian delegation visited Bamako to discuss the detention of the soldiers. At the end of that visit, a memorandum was signed, and Ivorian Defence Minister Tene Birahima Ouattara said the matter was on the way to resolution.

The agreement paves way for a possible presidential pardon by Goita, who did not mention the Ivorian soldiers in his end-of-year speech on Saturday.