Ivory Coast soldiers arrive home after months in Malian captivity
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara says normal relations with Mali should resume after the return of 46 soldiers
08 January 2023 - 22:14
byLoucoumane Coulibaly
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Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, right, welcomes the forty-six Ivorian soldiers recently pardoned by Mali's junta, at Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, January 7 2023. Picture: LUC GNAGO/REUTERS
Abidjan — Forty-six Ivorian soldiers recently pardoned by Mali’s junta flew home to Ivory Coast's Abidjan airport on Saturday after about six months in captivity, state television showed.
Their return signals the apparent resolution of a diplomatic standoff between the West African neighbours that also worsened Mali’s already tense relations with regional powers.
Emerging from the plane, each soldier held a small Ivorian flag and shook hands with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who was waiting to greet them at the airport.
“Now that this crisis is behind us, we can resume normal relations with the brother country of Mali,” Ouattara said once they were on all on Ivorian soil.
Citing a commitment to peace and dialogue, Mali’s junta late on Friday pardoned the soldiers, who had been sentenced on December 30 to 20 years in prison for allegedly attempting to undermine state security.
They were arrested in July at the airport in Mali’s capital Bamako. At the time the Malian authorities said the troops were acting as mercenaries, while Ivory Coast said they were part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
Mali has grown increasingly isolated since military officers toppled the government in 2020 and failed on election promises, prompting sanctions from West Africa’s main political and economic bloc Ecowas.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Ivory Coast soldiers arrive home after months in Malian captivity
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara says normal relations with Mali should resume after the return of 46 soldiers
Abidjan — Forty-six Ivorian soldiers recently pardoned by Mali’s junta flew home to Ivory Coast's Abidjan airport on Saturday after about six months in captivity, state television showed.
Their return signals the apparent resolution of a diplomatic standoff between the West African neighbours that also worsened Mali’s already tense relations with regional powers.
Emerging from the plane, each soldier held a small Ivorian flag and shook hands with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who was waiting to greet them at the airport.
“Now that this crisis is behind us, we can resume normal relations with the brother country of Mali,” Ouattara said once they were on all on Ivorian soil.
Citing a commitment to peace and dialogue, Mali’s junta late on Friday pardoned the soldiers, who had been sentenced on December 30 to 20 years in prison for allegedly attempting to undermine state security.
They were arrested in July at the airport in Mali’s capital Bamako. At the time the Malian authorities said the troops were acting as mercenaries, while Ivory Coast said they were part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali.
Mali has grown increasingly isolated since military officers toppled the government in 2020 and failed on election promises, prompting sanctions from West Africa’s main political and economic bloc Ecowas.
Reuters
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