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Senegal’s prime minister says new government in Dakar respects “choices” of military regimes in the region, including in Mali
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko expressed support for Mali’s transitional government and pledged that his country would continue to oppose sanctions imposed on the West African country over the military coup.
Sonko made the remarks on Monday when he met with Mali’s transitional President Assimi Goita and Prime Minister Jogue Maiga during a working visit to the Malian capital, Bamako.
The Malian presidential office announced on the 10th that the meeting discussed several key issues, including regional security and the possibility of economic cooperation between the two West African countries.
“I came here and it felt like I was home, I came here to talk to my brothers… As opponents, we were the first to condemn and will continue to strongly condemn the blockade imposed on Mali by brother countries, which unfortunately also include our own.” the prime minister said, according to state broadcaster RTS.
Mali has been hit by back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, both led by Goita. The military rulers failed to fulfill their promise to hold elections in February 2022, triggering severe sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Economic and financial sanctions on the jihadist-torn Sahel country were lifted in 2022 after the military government pledged to restore civilian rule by March 2024. Authorities had originally planned to hold presidential elections in February this year, but postponed them last September for technical reasons, promising to announce a new date later.
However, the regional bloc has been suspending its membership in an effort to force Mali and its military-ruled neighbors Niger and Burkina Faso to transition to civilian rule.
Earlier this year, the three former French colonies announced their withdrawal from ECOWAS due to ‘Cruel’ sanctions, accusing the group of being a tool of foreign powers.
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Popular former opposition leader Sonko, who was appointed Senegalese prime minister after Basilou Diomaye Faye won a landslide victory in March’s presidential election, said on Monday that the new leadership in Dakar would not impose sanctions on the neighboring country.
“Under our regime, this approach will never succeed. No one will use Senegal to destabilize Mali or other brotherly countries or impose sanctions of this nature on them.” Sanko said.
“We are all sovereign states and we must respect each other’s sovereign choices. We respect Mali’s choice and we respect Burkina Faso’s choice,” He added.
Sankoh also expressed his condolences to the Malian government after a rebel attack late last month in Tinzaouaten, near the Algerian border, killed dozens of Malian soldiers and several Russian Wagner Group contractors.
Dakar and several African governments condemned the ambush, which Ukrainian officials claimed the militants used intelligence from Ukrainian military intelligence to carry out.
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