Mali: ECOWAS’ Mediation Bearing Fruits With Release Of Ousted Keïta -Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the recent release of ousted Malian President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, was proof that mediation by the Economic Community of West African States achieved some success.

The military junta in Mali had said on Thursday that the President had been released.

Jonathan, who was appointed leader of the ECOWAS Mediation to Mali, stated this on Friday via Facebook.

“I briefed an extraordinary session of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government this afternoon on the outcome of our recent engagements with the military rulers who are now in charge of affairs in the Republic of Mali.

“I am pleased that our mediation, buoyed by the determination of ECOWAS leaders to act decisively to achieve the restoration of constitutional order in Mali is already bearing fruits, following the release of ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta,” he stated.

Recall that despite ECOWAS’s earlier intervention in the crisis, the soldiers went ahead to stage a coup against the government.

But, ECOWAS and other international bodies called for the release of those detained and the restoration of constitutional order.

Also, the ECOWAS Heads of State, in a virtual meeting on Friday, called for the return to democratic rule in Mali, within 12 months.