BAMAKO,
Mali
The
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted a trade and
travel blockade on Mali after the military masterminds of the August 18 coup agreed
to form a transitional government led by a civilian. Bah Ndaw (C) with junta leaders Col Assimi Goita (L) and Col Malick Diaw (R)
The regional bloc said on Tuesday
that the decision to lift the sanctions against the junta was taken because of
the appointment of Mali's 25-member interim government on Monday.
Bah Ndaw, 70, is president of the 18-month
transition government with military junta leader Col Assimi Goita as
vice-president and former Foreign minister Moctar Ouane as prime
minister.
In the new cabinet, military officers occupy
four key portfolios -- national security, defence, national
reconciliation, and regional administration.
Announcing the lifting of sanctions on
Tuesday, the chairman of ECOWAS Authority, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo
called on the Mali government to comply with other demands by the 15-member
regional bloc to dissolve the ruling military council and release
detainees.
In the statement released in Abuja, Nigeria,
President Akufo-Addo said the junta explained in the Transition Charter
that the vice president is in charge of defence and security, but would never
replace the transition president.
"But it remains unclear if the new
government enjoys the support of Malians, especially, the opposition coalition
M5-RFP, which spare-headed national protests that preceded the military sacking
of the government of elected president Ibrahim Keita.''
ECOWAS had on August 20, 2020, imposed
sanctions on Mali following the ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar
Keita.
The 15-member bloc had said that the sanctions
would only be lifted when a civilian prime minister is named to oversee the
transition.
The sanctions included a ban on commercial
trade and financial flows, but not on basic necessities such as drugs,
equipment to fight the coronavirus pandemic, fuel, and electricity.
ECOWAS also directed its member states to
close borders against the embattled country and suspended Mali from all its
decision-making organs and imposed restrictions against the military officers,
their partners, and collaborators in the coup pending restoration of constitutional
order.
The bloc dispatched a high-level delegation to
the West African nation to restore normalcy, which also demanded the release of
all detained civilians and military personnel.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio
Guterres also demanded the "unconditional release" of President
Ibrahim Boubakar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse as well as the
"immediate restoration of constitutional order."
The junta has established the National
Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) to superintend a transition to
civil rule. - AFP
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