Mali Suspended from African Union after Coup

World

June 2nd, 6:05am

Asharq Al-Awsat

The new interim president of Mali Bah Ndaw is sworn in during the inauguration ceremony in Bamako, Mali September 25, 2020. REUTERS/Amadou Keita

The African Union announced it was suspending Mali with immediate effect and threatened the country with sanctions, after a second military coup in nine months. The AU "decides... to immediately suspend the Republic of Mali from participation in all activities of the African Union, its Organs and institutions, until normal constitutional order has been restored in the country", the body's Peace and Security Council said in a statement late Tuesday. The move follows a similar suspension on Sunday from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In its statement, the AU called for the military to "urgently and unconditionally return to the barracks, and to refrain from further interference in the political processes in Mali.” It warned that if the military did not hand back power to civilian transitional leaders, "the Council will not hesitate to impose targeted sanctions and other punitive measures.” Condemning the coup "in the strongest terms possible,” it added it was "deeply concerned about the evolving situation in Mali and its negative impact on the gains made thus far in the transition process in the country.” Strongman Colonel Assimi Goita was at the ECOWAS crisis summit in Ghana on Sunday to argue the military's case but has now returned to Mali. Goita last August led army officers who overthrew elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, following mass protests over perceived corruption and a bloody insurgency. After the takeover, the military agreed to appoint civilians as interim president and prime minister under the pressure of ECOWAS trade and financial sanctions. But in a move that provoked diplomatic uproar, soldiers last week detained transitional president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane, releasing them on Thursday while saying that they had resigned. Mali's constitutional court completed Goita's rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president. Mali's neighbors and international powers fear the latest revolt will jeopardize a commitment to hold a presidential election in February, and undermine a regional fight against militants, some of which are based in Mali's desert north.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3004851/mali-suspended-african-union-after-coup