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Malian Troops
Originally, ECOWAS was going to send a delegation made of the chief of rotating presidency, Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara, who was himself aided last year by the international community assume power after the president Laurent Gbagbo refused to recognize his victory in the presidential elections in December 2010, and the presidents of Nigeria, Niger, Liberia, Benin and Burkina Faso. The flight to Bamako was annulled because protesters threatened to put themselves on the runway and forbid the landing of the aircraft that was bringing them to the capital.
The mission of the presidents was to convince the leaders in Bamako to relinquish power to the president Amadou Toumena Tore, who was toppled last Thursday. Alassane Ouattara was very clear that the time of the coups has gone for Africa, and that the democratic order must be reinstated.
Mali is one of the most stable democracies on the continent and the coup staged by the military is seen as an infringement of 20 years of efforts to enforce democracy.
ECOWAS invited the states in the region to impose a travel ban for members of the junta, and a diplomatic and economic embargo on the Malian economy if the constitutional order is not restored within 72 hours. Freezing of assets, and a ban to use the ports at of ECOWAS coastal countries are other measures that were announced by the leaders of the regional body.
Mali is part of the African monetary union, and cutting off the Malian central bank from the financial union would bring the fragile economy of the country to its knees in weeks. The economic sanctions are seen as the key solution for the crisis in Mali, and it is estimated that it would need no more than a few weeks.
ECOWAS had arranged a meeting with Captain Amadou Sanogo, the leader of the junta who took power in the country as a result of the way the government was treating the Tuareg rebellion in the north. Meanwhile, the Tuareg took advantage of the chaos in the country and occupied more land.
According to the Afrique en ligne, the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs and Defense Staff chairman, Ivorian General Soumaila Bagayoko arrived in the capital of Mali on a “sensitive mission” and is already involved in talks with the leaders of the junta. He is accompanied by the leaders of defense in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
Earlier this week, ECOWAS had threatened that even the military option was on the table to remove the junta from power, if necessary. The same kind of threats were made against Laurent Gbagbo last years, but were not carried out by ECOWAS because Gbagbo, president to one of the most important exporters of cocoa in the world, had many friends in the regional body, which opposed a military intervention.
The announcement of the ECOWAS that international sanctions would be imposed on their country compelled many Malians to remove money from the bank accounts. Mali is a poor country depending on the international help, and an embargo would make the situation even more critical.
Even so, many people in Mali support the military rule, saying that the junta has restored the dignity of the people, and can enforce a very strong leadership, that can deal with the Tuareg rebellion in the north.
On Monday, the junta announced the new constitution of the country, which upholds many of the rights protected by the former constitution, but also provides that a council made of 26 military and 16 civilians will be established to rule for a transitional period until elections can be organized. According to one of the articles of the constitution, the members of the transitional government will not be allowed to participates in the election.
The president Ture did not say, in an interview for RFI, whether he did recognize the new constitution. He said he was alive and that he had not been harmed, but did not offer a location or any information on whether he was a prisoner.
He had two terms in office, and the second term was about to end next month, when elections were scheduled. African Union and ECOWAS suspended Mali and said that the suspension was operating until constitutional order has been restored. The United States and the European Union have announced that they suspended the help for Mali until the situation is restored to its constitutional order.
For his part, Captain Sanogo said that he had control over most of the territory last week and that he feared no countercoup. Last Friday he demanded the soldiers to put a stop to looting and any brutal action against civilians.
This Friday, Sanogo asked for help to stop the Tuareg rebels and Islamist insurgents from advancing after they seized the strategic city of Kidal, 1,000 kilometers from the capital. Sources in the field indicate that the military offered up to no resistance and that the rebels took two military camps.
A civil servant confirmed for the AFP that the rebels entered town and instructed people not to be afraid and go about their business. The Islamist rebels are said to belong to the Ansar Dine group, which has made an unusual alliance with the Azawad National Liberation Front Movement of the Tuareg, who have been fighting the Malian government for ten years in order to establish a country of their own in the region called Azawagh, which they consider their homeland and covers northern Mali, northern Niger, and parts of southern Algeria.
The Malian army proved no match for the desert warriors of the Tuareg, whose power was boosted by the recent events in Libya, and the return of many who fought in the war of Muammar al-Qaddafi.
The former leader of the Libyans was a friend of the Tuareg, a supporter of their claim to a homeland. One of the rumors circulated soon after the fall of Tripoli was that Qaddafi was going to Niger to arm Tuareg soldiers and return to conquer his power again.
200,000 were displaced since the Tuareg rebellion began, and the taken of Kidal is seen as a huge victory for the Tuareg, who have already seized two large cities in the north.
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