ECOWAS to Send Troops to Guinea Bissau, Mali

27 April 2012
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abidjan — ECOWAS leaders have authorized the immediate deployment of regional troops to Guinea Bissau and Mali as part of efforts to restore peace in the two Member States following military coups that toppled democratic institutions in both countries and the separatist rebellion in northern Mali.

A contingent of the ECOWAS Standby Force is to be deployed with" immediate effect" to, among other duties, facilitate the withdrawal of an Angolan Technical and Military Assistance Mission in Guinea Bissau (MISSANG), and also assist in securing transitional process and undertake preparations for the immediate implementation of the road map for the Defence and Security Sector Reform.

Similarly, the regional leaders at their extra-ordinary in Abidjan on Thursday, 26th April 2012 also directed the deployment of an ECOWAS Standby Force to Mali to assist the country regain its unity and territorial integrity in the wake of the separatist rebellion in the north. The 629-strong ECOWAS Mission being deployed in Guinea Bissau, with troops drawn from Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Togo and Senegal, is headed by Col. Barro Gnibanga of Burkina Faso, who received the mission's directive from the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouédraogo during the summit's closing ceremony.

The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government also threatened to impose targeted sanctions within 72 hours against members of the military command of Guinea Bissau and their associates if they fail to accede to regional demand for the immediate restoration of democratic rule following the 12th April army take-over in the country.

Among the other demands by the ECOWAS leaders is the immediate and unconditional release of Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jnr, the interim President Raimundo Pereira and others illegally detained by the Bissau junta. "Authority also demands the immediate restoration of constitutional order to allow for the completion of the electoral process," the leaders affirmed. They warned that the country faced the prospect of diplomatic, economic and financial sanctions while individuals could be recommended for possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court, for non-compliance with the ECOWAS demands.

The regional leaders also set up a seven-nation contact and follow-up group chaired by Nigeria with Benin, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Senegal and Togo as members to coordinate implementation of regional decisions on Guinea Bissau. On the sidelines of the summit, Ambassador Ouedraogo handed cheques totalling US$4.5 million as part of ECOWAS' humanitarian assistance to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, three Member States affected by the rebellion in Mali.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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