“An unacceptable coup”: European leaders “strongly condemned the arrest of Mali’s president and his prime minister,” Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday at the end of a European summit in which France called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“We are ready to take the targeted sanctions against the main characters, if the situation is not clarified in the coming hours,” Emmanuel Macron said at a press conference. The strong man of the Malian power, Colonel Assimi Goïta, stated on Tuesday that he had released from his powers the president and prime minister for the transition, according to him guilty of attempted “sabotage”, in what looks like a second coup in nine months.
“We strongly condemned the arrest of the president of the transition, his prime minister and his staff,” reported Emmanuel Macron. “What has been carried out by the military putschists is a coup d’etat in the unacceptable coup, which demands our immediate condemnation,” the French president said.
In a statement on regaining control over Malian concern and widespread international disapproval, Colonel Goïta accused President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane of forming a new government without consulting him, even though he was responsible for defense and security, crucial areas in the Sahel country in concern.
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, a few minutes before Emmanuel Macron, indicated to the National Assembly that France had requested an emergency call before the UN Security Council. It “condemns this coup in the strongest terms”, “demands the release of the authorities” and “immediate resumption of the normal course of the transition”, Le Drian explained.
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According to him, “the civilian nature of the transition is a precondition for the credibility of the transition process and the support that international partners can provide to the Malian authorities”.
“If, by chance, there was no order in the transition, we would take immediate action against the military and political leaders who are preventing the transition,” the French minister warned.
Minusma, the African Union (AU), the United States, Britain and Germany “also strongly condemned the coup attempt”. They rejected in advance all fait accompli, including a possible forced resignation from the arrested leaders. On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “calm” in Mali and for the “unconditional release” of the MM. N’Daw and Ouane.
(With AFP)
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