By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Mali’s interim President, Assimi Goita has said the regime will not yield to Ivorian demand by releasing its soldiers numbering 46 who were detained at Mali’s international airport in the capital, Bamako, since July 10, state television said on Saturday.
While accusing Ivory Coast of providing asylum to political figures wanted by Malian authorities, Goita alleged that the Ivorian military personnel had flown in without permission and were seen as mercenaries, a situation that has sparked a diplomatic row.
Ivory Coast, while insisting on the release of its soldiers said they had been deployed as part of a security and logistics support contract signed with the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
Goita noted that his government “has made it clear that at a time when Ivory Coast is requesting the release of its soldiers, it continues to serve as a political asylum for certain Malian political figures who are the subject of an international arrest warrant.”
There are however no specifics on the areas of compensation from Malian authorities to end the diplomatic disagreement.
Goita’s junta came to power in a coup two years ago, ousting former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, whose son Karim is in Ivory Coast along with former government ministers Tienan Coulibaly and Igor Diarra.
According to the broadcast, Goita would like a mutually beneficial solution to the stand-off over the soldiers “as opposed to a one-way solution that consists of acceding to the Ivorian demands without any compensation for Mali”.
