Lome - Togo — 1. At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire and ECOWAS Chairman, a consultative meeting on the situation in Mali was held on 6 June 2012 in Lome in the margins of the UEMOA Summit.
2. The meeting was attended by H.E. Yayi Boni, President of the Republic of Benin and Chairman of the African Union; H.E. Blaise Compaoré, President of Faso and ECOWAS Mediator in Mali; H.E. Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger; H.E. Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Togolese Republic and UEMOA Chairman; H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; H.E. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo and Chairman of the African Union Peace and Security Council for the month of June 2012; H.E. Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Associate Mediator in Mali, represented by H.E. Mr. Nurudeen Mohammad, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and H.E. Mr. Modibo Diarra, Prime Minister of Mali.
3. H.E. Daniel Kablan Duncan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire and Chairman of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, H.E. Djibril Bassolé, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso, H.E. Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, President of the ECOWAS Commission and H.E. Saïd Djinnit, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to West Africa also attended the meeting.
4. The Mediator in the Malian crisis made a presentation on the serious situation in Northern Mali and on the prospects for dialogue with the Malian armed groups.
5. The Heads of State and Government strongly condemned the acts of rape, looting, robbery, killing and destruction of cultural sites perpetrated by the armed groups in Northern Mali.
6. Due to this flagrant violation of human rights, the serious humanitarian situation and its consequences on regional and international peace and security, the Heads of State and Government reiterated their decision to send troops to Mali.
7. In this regard, they instructed the ECOWAS Commission to continue the preparation of the ECOWAS Stand-by Force for deployment and urged the current Chairpersons of ECOWAS and African Union to seek the approval of the United Nations Security Council for the deployment of troops under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter with a view to taking all necessary measures for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Mali, if the need be, by the use of force.
8. They urged the Mediator to pursue his negotiations with the stakeholders with the exception of terrorist groups.
9. The Heads of State and Government urged the United Nations Security Council to support the transitional institutions in Mali and bring to book anybody who impedes the on-going transitional process and the restoration of constitutional order.
10. They reiterated ECOWAS' non-recognition of the CNRDRE as well as any status of Head of State or former Head of State bestowed on Captain Amadou Sanogo.
Kadré Désiré OUEDRAOGO President of the ECOWAS Commission
