West African leaders gathered on Sunday in Accra on the Malian issue adopted “very harsh” sanctions on Sunday due to the junta’s failure to meet the February deadline for elections to bring civilians back to power, the junta said. ‘AFP a participant in the summit.
West African leaders gathered on Sunday in Accra on the Malian issue adopted “very harsh” sanctions on Sunday due to the junta’s failure to meet the February deadline for elections to bring civilians back to power, the junta said. ‘AFP a participant in the summit. The heads of state and government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sitting behind closed doors in the Ghanaian capital adopted measures comparable to those taken after the August 2020 putsch, a said this senior official on condition of anonymity pending the formalization of the measures.
ECOWAS then imposed the closure of member states’ borders with Mali as well as an embargo on trade and financial exchanges, with the exception of basic necessities. ECOWAS leaders endorsed the measures taken at a summit of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) immediately preceding theirs, the same official said. The UEMOA countries are all members of ECOWAS.
Country in the grip of a deep security crisis
During their meeting seen as paving the way for concerted action, the leaders of the WAEMU states displayed their “firmness” against the junta, a participant said on condition of anonymity. Two ministers of the Malian government dominated by colonels had yet submitted Saturday to ECOWAS a revised timetable for the return of civilians to the head of the country, the scene of two military coups since 2020 and in the grip of a deep security crisis.