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Forty-six Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali since July returned home late Saturday, a day after they were pardoned by the neighboring country’s military junta, according to an AFP reporter at the airport.
The troops were arrested on July 10, 2022, after arriving in the Mali capital Bamako, and their detention sparked a bitter diplomatic row between the neighboring countries.
Mali accused them of being mercenaries, while Ivory Coast and the United Nations said they were flown in to provide routine backup for German contingents in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
On 30 December, a Mali court sentenced 46 soldiers to 20 years in prison, while three women were sentenced to death in absentia from the initial 49 soldiers arrested.
Prosecutor Raj Salah said at the time that they were found guilty of “assault and conspiracy against the government” and attempted breach of national security.
On Friday, Mali’s junta leader Asimi Goita pardoned all 49 soldiers.
The remaining 46 arrived at the airport in Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire, on Saturday.
After their plane touched down at 11:40 p.m. (2340 GMT), soldiers in uniform disembarked one by one, each waving a small Ivorian flag.
They were greeted by President Alassane Ouattara before entering the presidential pavilion at the airport, where their families were waiting for them.
– Diplomatic Efforts –
The soldiers’ trials began in Bamako on 29 December and ended the following day.
This comes ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline set by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for Mali to release soldiers or face sanctions.
An Ivorian delegation traveled to Mali for talks ahead of the trial, and the Ivorian defense ministry said the dispute was “being resolved”.
The agreement reached between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire at the time left open the possibility of a pardon by President Goita.
The Mali government on Friday cited the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries “on the promotion of peace and the strengthening of friendship, brotherhood and good-neighbourly relations between the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire”.
It also thanked Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe for mediating in the dispute, but condemned the “aggressive stance” of ECOWAS leader Umaro Sissoko Embalo.
– Chronic tension –
Relations between Mali and its West African neighbors have been under arrest since democratically-elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was toppled in August 2020 by officials enraged by their failure to suppress a jihadist insurgency. Already nervous.
Ivorian President Ouattara is considered one of the most staunch West African leaders against Malian rebels.
In a note to the Mali government after the troops were detained, the United Nations acknowledged some procedural “dysfunction” and said “certain measures were not taken”.
The Ivorian president also acknowledged “shortcomings and misunderstandings”.
But the dispute escalated in September when diplomatic sources in the region said Mali wanted Ivory Coast to acknowledge its responsibility and regretted the deployment of soldiers.
Bamako also wants Ivory Coast to hand over people who have been on its territory since 2013 but are wanted in Mali, they said.
Ivory Coast has rejected both demands and is preparing to extend talks to free the troops, the source said.
“This hostage-taking will not be without consequences,” Ouattara said at the time.
The tension led Abdoulaye Maiga, then interim prime minister of Mali, to denounce “synchronized operations” against Mali at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
He attacked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for declaring that Ivorian soldiers were not mercenaries.
He also criticized ECOWAS President Embalo and the heads of state of Côte d’Ivoire and Niger.
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