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| Captain Amadou Sanogo, leader of Mali's military junta |
The leaders of West Africa’s sub-regional economic bloc,
ECOWAS, have threatened to reinstate targeted sanctions against those who
disrupt the process for the election of a new president.
ECOWAS believe recent clashed in Bamako between elements of
the country's armed forces which erupted on April 30, 2012, will hinder the
process to replace the ousted former President Amadou Toumani Toure.
Touray was deposed by mutinying soldiers on 22nd March
2012. The comprehensive sanctions against the country, including targeted
sanctions against members of the military junta that deposed the former
president and their associates, were lifted after they agreed to hand over
power to the former speaker of the parliament as interim president until the election
of a new president based on a 12-month transition programme.
At the culmination of an extraordinary summit on May 3 in
Dakar, Senegal, the leaders strongly condemned the recent clashes which
traumatized the population of the capital still reeling from the aftershock of
the coup.
It appealed for the immediate cessation of hostilities and a
united-military in defence of the country's territorial integrity and tackle
the separatist campaign in the north of the country.
The sub-regional grouping also urged the country's
transition authority to expedite the preparation of a road map detailing the
time frame for various activities, including the framework for consultation on
various issues that will culminate in the election of the president and the
restoration of full constitutional rule.
Regional leaders also requested that the mediator in the
crisis, Burkunabe President, Blaise Compaore, to review the role of the CNRDRE,
the military junta that deposed the former president, in the transition in line
with the framework agreement signed with the junta.
They also urge him to make appropriate recommendations to
the Heads of State and Government.
On the deployment of the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) in that
country, they directed the ECOWAS Commission to prepare the force for immediate
deployment "as soon as the Malian authorities make the relevant
request".
Defining the modalities for military cooperation between the
Malian army and the ESF "in view of the deployment" is also high on
ECOWAS’s agenda.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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