The West Africa bloc ECOWAS on Tuesday condemned a military putsch in Mali and pledged a range of retaliatory actions, including suspending all financial flows between its 15 members and Mali and suspending Mali from its decision-making bodies.
The decision came after mutinous and rebel soldiers arrested and detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Tuesday afternoon following weeks of political tension in the country.
In a statement, the Economic Community for West African States said that it would suspend the country from its internal decision-making bodies and its members would close land and air borders to Mali and pledged to demand sanctions against the “putschists and their partners and collaborators”.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres also condemned the arrest and called for their immediate release. UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, “The Secretary-General calls for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and rule of law in Mali.’’
Mali has been in the grip of a deep political impasse, struggling to maintain stability since June, with President Keita facing increasingly strident demands for his resignation after being accused of gross intimidation and vote-buying during a parliamentary election in April, which gave his administration a firm majority.
However, the opposition alliance’s anti-Keita campaign veered into crisis last month when at least 11 people were killed over three days of unrest that followed a protest.
In an effort to avoid chaos in notoriously unstable Mali, ECOWAS then stepped in to mediate.
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