July 4. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has lifted this Sunday the sanctions imposed on Mali, has ruled out the threat of measures against Burkina Faso after agreeing on a two-year transition and has appointed a new mediator to try to agree on a reduction of the period of transition adopted by the board in Guinea, at the 61st ordinary summit held in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
The sanctions on Mali included the closure of borders, the freezing of Malian assets and the suspension of commercial and financial exchanges. The ECOWAS ambassadors who were stationed in Bamako and who had been withdrawn will also be able to return to the African country, notes Radio France Internationale (RFI).
However, West African heads of state and government have decided that financial sanctions targeting the junta leaders remain in place. Mali also remains suspended from ECOWAS authorities.
Countries such as Niger, Gambia or Ghana were committed to tightening sanctions against Mali to express their disagreement with, in their opinion, the excessive duration of the transition period proposed by the coup plotters, 24 months compared to the 16 required by ECOWAS.
Assimi Goita led the coup against Keita in August 2020 and subsequently led a second coup d’état in May 2021 against the transitional authorities of Mali -at which time he overthrew the president and prime minister, Bah Ndaw and Moctar Ouane- – rising to power.
On the other hand, ECOWAS has decided to lift the threat of sanctions that had been imposed on Burkina Faso since last March, measures that have never been applied.
The community has taken into account the report of the mediator, the former president of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, who reported two important advances: the two years of transition proposed by the authorities of Burkina Faso, instead of the three years initially announced and the freedom of Circulation granted to former president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
Like Mali, Burkina Faso continues to be suspended from the organs of the West African organization.
Likewise, if Guinea does not reach an agreement for a new transition schedule within a month, ECOWAS will impose new sanctions.
The organization has granted Guinea one month to define the calendar due to the appointment of a new mediator, in this case the former Beninese president Thomas Boni Yayi, who must obtain a reduction in the transition period of the three-year term proposed so far by the military meeting.
The National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD), the body constituted by the coup military in Guinea, took power in Guinea under the command of Colonel Mamady Doumbouya on September 5, 2021, thus displacing President Alpha Condé.
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