The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)says it is lifting the sanctions it imposed on Mali following the August ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita by soldiers in a coup.
AFP reports that ECOWAS said on Tuesday that “heads of state and government have decided to lift sanctions” in order to “support” the handover to civilian rule.
THE WHISTLER earlier reported that Mali’s former Minister of Defence, Bah Ndaw, retired colonel, was on September 25 sworn in as the country’s interim president in Bamako, the country’s capital.
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The military junta named Ndaw as the president of the transition government, after pressure from ECOWAS and other international bodies.
The junta’s leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, was also sworn in as the vice president.
Among other things, the interim president was mandated to return the country to civil rule.
On his part, ECOWAS meditation team leader, former president Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, maintained that he was hopeful that Mali would fully return to democracy.
“We are optimistic that this event will signal the beginning of the return to normalcy in Mali after a protracted socio-political crisis,” he had said.