ECOWAS representatives did not make any statements to the press after a short interview with the military. They are due to meet with former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta afterward.
A West African delegation arrived in Bamako on Saturday 22 August, where it held brief talks with the leaders of the junta that overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, before meeting the former president in the capital.
Envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were received at the defense ministry by members of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), including the country’s new strong man, Colonel Assimi Goïta, a journalist with Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted. After about 30 minutes of talks, the delegation led by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who wants to “ensure the immediate return of constitutional order”, left without making a statement.
“This is an official meeting to make contact. There will be others, not necessarily mediatized, but already we have a good impression of this mission of ECOWAS,” a source close to the putschists told AFP after the meeting. “We understand that heads of state, such as Ivorian Alassane Ouattara, are working for relaxation, for a peaceful solution, even if they have strongly condemned our seizure of power. We are open to discussions,” the source added.
Promise of a “political transition
Elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, President Keïta was strongly contested in the streets at the appeal of a motley opposition movement that had been calling for his resignation since the spring. Denounced by the international community, the military coup of 18 August did not arouse any notable opposition in Bamako. The Malians resumed their activities the day after the putsch and the national television station, ORTM, continued its programs.
The ruling military, which promised to put in place a “political transition”, was cheered on Friday by thousands of opposition supporters, who had been calling for the head of state to leave for three months.
On his arrival in Bamako in the early afternoon, Mr. Jonathan said he was confident that the discussions would lead to “something good for the country, good for ECOWAS and good for the international community”.
The West African envoys then traveled to Kati, a garrison town on the outskirts of Bamako that has become the center of the new government, for a “visit to the personalities arrested” by the military, including Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, the president of the National Assembly, Moussa Timbiné, and the army chief of staff, General Abdoulaye Coulibaly.
Keïta moved from Kati to Bamako
They then met Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the former president, who had been discreetly transferred from Kati to Bamako, Goodluck Jonathan confirmed to AFP on Saturday evening. “We have seen President Keïta,” he confirmed to AFP, before adding: “the talks are going well. The delegation will meet Sunday morning with the ambassadors to Mali of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (France, United States, Russia, Great Britain, and China), according to its program obtained by AFP.
Saturday morning, a few dozen supporters of President Keïta tried to demonstrate in Bamako, before being dispersed by the security forces. “We are here this morning to show that we do not agree with the coup. But people came to attack us with stones, then the security forces took advantage of this aggression to disperse our activists,” Abdoul Niang, a Convergence of Republican Forces (CFR) activist, told AFP.
Source: Le Monde
