Addis- Ababa - Ethiopia — The 327th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, which took place in Addis Ababa on 14 July 2012, endorsed all the latest Decisions taken by ECOWAS with regard to the double crisis in Mali.
In the Resolution adopted at the end of the meeting, the Council fully supported the Decisions taken at Yamoussoukro at the 41st Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS, in paricular the call for a consultative forum of all major socio-political stakeholders in Mali, in particular, the political parties and civil society organizations, for the purpose of establishing an inclusive Government of National Unity to spearhead the 12-month transition, with the facilitation of the ECOWAS Mediator and the Regional Contact Group on Mali.
The Council also endorsed the ECOWAS demand to the Prime Minister and the Transitional Government to elaborate and implement a roadmap leading to the resolution of the crisis in the north, the protection of Malian territory, and the conduct of free, fair and transparent Presidential election within the transition, as well as the call on the UN Security Council to prioritize the consideration of the ECOWAS/AU request for a Security Council resolution authorizing the deployment of ECOWAS troops to Mali under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.
With respect to the decisions arrived at the end of the consultative meeting between the Mediator, the Regional Contact Group and the Malian socio- political actors in Ouagadougou on 7 July 2012, the Council fully endorsed the deadline of 31 July given to the concerned parties in Mali to create the inclusive government and come up with the roadmap.
The Council welcomed the dispatch of the ECOWAS Technical Assistance Mission to Mali with the participation of experts from AU, UN and EU, and directed the AU and ECOWAS Commissions to urgently finalize the strategic document on troop deployment, as soon as the Technical Mission returned from Mali, to fast-track the UNSC consideration of the request for a Chapter VII Resolution. The Meeting took place ahead of the 19th Ordinary Summit of the AU, which opened on 15 July 2012.
It was chaired by H.E. Alassane Ouattara, Chairman of ECOWAS and Chair of the AU PSC for the month of July 2012. In addition to the opening remarks by the Chairman, the Chairman of the AU Commission, Mr. Jean Ping, outlined the AU engagement in the country while H.E. Blaise Compaore, President of Faso and ECOWAS Mediator in Mali, briefed the session on the ECOWAS mediation efforts.
Other personalities who addressed the meeting included Mr. Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Presidents of Niger and Mauritania, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Algeria and Nigeria, and the Malian Ambassador to Ethiopia, who expressed the commitment of the Transitional Authrity in Mali to comply with all the ECOWAS Decisions. The AU Peace and Security Council also deliberated on the situation in Guinea Bissau.
It 'encouraged ECOWAS to pursue its efforts in close coordination with the other relevant international actors, notably the CPLP, the African Union, the United Nations and the European Union, towards the implementation of thr decisions relating to the return to constitutional order in Guinea Bissau'. It also commended the Government of Nigeria for its contribution to the on-going ECOWAS efforts in the country.
