On Thursday, the French Armed Forces announced that Paris had “decided to suspend joint military operations with Malian forces” after the last coup on May 24, and “pending guarantees” about the return of civilians to power after elections scheduled for next February.
In a statement, the ministry stressed that “the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union have set conditions and red lines to clarify the framework of the political transition process in Mali,” and “pending these guarantees, France decided to temporarily suspend joint military operations with Malian forces, as well as advisory missions. Read also In protest against the performance of the president and prime minister, the military in Mali carries out the second coup in 9 months After international condemnation, the Malian army releases the interim president and prime minister The head of the military junta in Mali dismisses several officials and is considering forming a new government
Suspension
of its membership in francophone bodies
In the same context, the Permanent Council of Francophone announced Thursday in a statement that the francophone bodies suspended the membership of Mali, which witnessed a coup at the end of last May, the second in less than a year.
During an extraordinary session in Paris, the Permanent Council of Francophone – one of the bodies of the International Organization of la Francophile – “strongly” condemned the coup carried out by Colonel Asimi Guetta on May 24, and decided to “suspend the Republic of Mali from the francophone bodies”, while preserving the programs to restore democratic order. .
In a resolution adopted unanimously, “the Permanent Council of Francophone requested the appointment of a civilian prime minister and a government that represents all parties,” and demanded “the immediate lifting of all restrictions imposed on political figures, especially the placement of the president and former prime minister under house arrest.”
Colonel Asimi Gueta, who carried out the first coup in August 2020, installed himself as president after toppling President Bah Ndao and Prime Minister Mukhtar Wan.
Guetta receives the Coordination of Azawad Movements
On the other hand, the transitional President of Mali, Colonel Asimi Gueta, met on Wednesday evening with the Coordination of Azawad Movements, which signed a peace agreement in 2015, as announced by the two parties.
This meeting was held amid the Coordination of Azawad Movements’ concern about the repercussions of the coup led by Guetta last week and its impact on this agreement, the implementation of which is considered essential in the search for a solution to end the turmoil engulfing the country.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements is an alliance composed mainly of former Tuareg armed groups and Arab nationalists who have fought the Malian forces in the north since 2012. It is also one of the signatories to this agreement along with the Malian government and the “platform” coalition composed of armed groups loyal to the authority.
The coordination held an extraordinary meeting last week after the coup led by Gueta. And she said in a statement that followed the meeting that she had decided “not to keep pace with the current transition without an agreement that guarantees its priorities.”