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Africa Subsaharan
West African mediators arrive in Mali seeking reversal of coup
2020-08-23
This doesn’t seem an approach likely to succeed against men of violence...
[EN.ALGHADEER.TV] Mediators from West Africa’s regional bloc arrived in Mali on Saturday for talks aimed at reversing a coup that has been condemned abroad but celebrated by many in a country battling an Islamist insurgency and simmering political unrest.After three days of calm in the capital Bamako after Tuesday’s ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, police used tear gas on Saturday when a scuffle broke out between a group of 50 pro-Keita protesters and local residents who threw stones, an eyewitness told Rooters.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has taken a particularly hard line on the coup. The bloc quickly shut borders and ended financial flows this week — a move diplomat said was as much about warning opponents at home as stabilizing Mali.

"They cannot tolerate this taking place. They are taking it very personally. It is on their doorstep and they think they are next," one regional diplomat said.

The presidents of Ivory Coast and Guinea are among those pushing for a tough response, another diplomat said, as both have faced violent mostly peaceful public protests to their third-term bids and want the bloc to show it will not tolerate power grabs in its own backyard.

All eyes are on the visit by an ECOWAS delegation led by Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau.Other than that he's pretty useless as the Boko Haram debacle shows..
"We’ll continue to engage Malian stakeholders until lasting peace is found," Jonathan said in a tweet shortly after landing at Bamako airport on Saturday afternoon.

A junta of military officers has controlled the country since Tuesday when the mutineers detained Keita at gunpoint and forced him to resign. They have promised to oversee a transition to elections within a "reasonable" amount of time.



Posted by:Fred

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