Three out of 49 Ivorian soldiers held in Mali released
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Three women belonging to a group of 49 Côte d’Ivoire soldiers arrested in Mali were reported to have been released on 10 July. This was stated by Robert Ducey, head of Togolese diplomacy, on Saturday evening during a press conference. A case in which Togo played the role of mediator between Bamako and Abidjan.
The official announcement came in Lomé, Togo, on Saturday evening during a conference during which the three flags of Togo, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire appeared on the desks. The brief press conference was held in the presence of Malian Foreign Minister Abdallah Diop. Fidel Sarasorro, chief of staff of the Ivorian head of state was the first to speak.
” Forty-nine soldiers from Côte d’Ivoire were arrested on 10 July 2022 at Bamako airport on the grounds that their arrival in Malian territory was not subject to prior notification or authorization. The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire regrets that deficiencies and misunderstandings were behind this very unfortunate event. The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, eager to maintain good-neighbourly relations with Mali, pledges to respect the procedures of the United Nations, as well as the new financial rules and provisions that have been enacted in connection with the deployment of military forces in Mali. »
Then it was Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dossey to announce, according to reports Our correspondent in LomeAnd the Peter Sassou Dugby. “ The President of the Republic of Togo is pleased that President Assim Guetta has agreed to release three of the 49 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture. So three Ivorian soldiers have been released and discussions are ongoing. »
The three soldiers, accompanied by the Chief of Staff of the Ivorian armed forces, returned to Abidjan on Saturday evening, awaiting the release of another 46 soldiers. This version, however, failed almost at the last minute. At first, the Malian authorities did not want to leave Mali in uniform. It was the end of the rejection but in the end everything went back to normal.
The main mediator in the case, President Faure Gnassingbe walked on eggshells throughout the talks, giving way to other stakeholders in the case, such as Algeria, Morocco, the Economic Community of West African States and, according to our information, even Guinea. ” It was also necessary to find a legal key in the file “, admits a judicial source. In this regard, the Public Prosecutor confirmed in a press statement, that the investigative judge, after consulting the prosecution, agreed to release the three women.
Consequently, the remaining 46 soldiers, all men, remain in detention. Financial accused of being mercenaries ». Abidjan, who is demanding their release, for his part, confirms that they were on a mission to the United Nations, as part of the logistical support operations for MINUSMA.
►Read also: Mali: 49 Côte d’Ivoire soldiers charged and imprisoned for “undermining state security”
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