Delegation of Regional Leaders Due in Bamako

29 March 2012
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Bamako - Mali — Regional leaders who are members of the high level delegation constituted at the just ended extraordinary summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government over the coup in Mali, are due in the country Thursday 29th March 2012 to reinforce the regional drive to restore constitutional order in the country.

The leaders who will meet the hierarchy of the junta this morning are to ensure the practical implementation of the two key decisions of the summit, namely the immediate restoration of constitutional order and securing a ceasefire in the conflict between government forces and separatist rebels in the north of the country. The junta ousted President Amadou Toumani Toure in a coup on 22nd March 2012 that has been widely condemned by ECOWAS and the international community.

The Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire is leading the delegation which also includes the Presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia , Niger and Nigeria for the one-day visit.

Ahead of their arrival, a seven-member delegation of the ECOWAS Committee of chiefs of defence staff led by its Chairman, the chief of defence staff of Cote d'Ivoire, General Soumaila Bagayoko arrived in the country on a "sensitisation mission" and are currently holding talks with representatives of the junta. Other members of the delegation, which was composed by regional leaders during the extraordinary summit, are the chiefs of defence staff of Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

On arrival, they met with officials of the junta to convey the message of the summit for the rapid restoration of constitutional order, brief them on the measures envisaged by ECOWAS to assist the country protect its territorial integrity, inform them of the consequences of non-compliance among other issues.

The delegation of the defence chiefs was joined later by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, the minister of regional integration for Cote d'Ivoire and the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso and Niger

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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