UN Photo/Kim Haughton  /   Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the Republic of Mali, addresses the general debate of the 74th session General Assembly (file photo)

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  – NEW YORK –  The UN Security Council Wednesday strongly condemned the military mutiny in Mali that led to the arrest and  forced resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.  The members of the Security Council held an emergency meeting on the crisis in Mali and expressed their deep concern regarding the recent political developments in the west African nation. They urged those mutineers to release safely and immediately all the officials detained and to return to their barracks without delay. They also underlined the urgent need to restore rule of law and to move towards the return to constitutional order.  UN Security Council members also reiterated their strong support to the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) initiatives and mediation efforts in Mali and expressed their support to the two ECOWAS communiqués of 18 August 2020 as well as to the one from the African Union Chairperson.  They called on all Malian stakeholders to show restraint and give priority to dialogue to resolve the crisis in their country.  The emergency UN Security Council session was requested by France and Niger

The unfolding developments began yesterday at the Kati military base about 15 kilometres outside Bamako, where soldiers reportedly detained senior officers and seized weapons. (Kati is the same base from which soldiers led by Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo launched the coup d’état in 2012.)  After taking over the base, the soldiers advanced on to Bamako and arrested President Keita, Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and other high-ranking officials. Last night, Keita announced in a televised address that he was resigning and said that he had agreed to dissolve the National Assembly and the government.

ECOWAS  Condemns  Mali Coup – Imposes Sanctions on Military Leaders

ECOWAS, AU, USA and France have all condemned the coup in Mali. Russia and Canada have expressed concerns.

ECOWAS has imposed sanctions of the masterminds of the coup, Colonel Malick Diaw, Colonel Sadio Camara, Brigadier General Cheick Fanta Mady Dembele. pic.twitter.com/kWJP0MwoPE

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) August 19, 2020

ECOWAS issued statement, denouncing the “power grab by Malian military putschists” and demanding the release of Keita and other arrested officials.  ECOWAS said that it was suspending Mali from all decision-making bodies of the regional organisation, as it did after the 2012 coup and was closing all land and air borders with Mali. 

It also requested the immediate activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force and demanded the immediate implementation of sanctions against all putschists and their partners and collaborators.

U.N. Secretary-General Guterres Urges Restoration of Constitutional Order in MALI

Secretary-General strongly Antonio Guterres also condemned the military mutiny, and is calling for an immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali. “He reiterates his calls for a negotiated solution and peaceful resolution of their differences, and expresses his full support for the African Union and ECOWAS in their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the current crisis, including through the good offices of his Special Representative,” the spokesperson for the UNSG said in a statement.

The UN maintains its Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) peace keeping force  with 13,289 military personnel and 1,920 police personnel.