ECOWAS to hold extraordinary summit in Abidjan on Mali situation

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is to hold an extraordinary summit in Abidjan, capital of Cote d’Ivoir, on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in Mali, a minister of Cote d’Ivoir announced Sunday, according to Xinhua.

“The presidents will meet to discuss and evaluate the situation” in Mali, said Ali Coulibaly, African Integration Minister of Cote d’Ivoir.

Coulibaly also said that an emergency contingent of ECOWAS troops would start arriving in Bamako, capital of Mali, on Sunday.

Cote d’Ivoir President Alassane Ouattara, chairman of ECOWAS, on Friday declared the start of a U.N.-mandated operation to deploy some 3,000 African soldiers to Mali.

As part of support to the Malian army against rebel forces, groups of French and Nigerian soldiers landed Bamako on Saturday afternoon, Malian military sources said.

Military sources said the French soldiers came from Chad and Cote d’Ivoire, where they were based. They came with their materials and food.

Shortly after their arrival, a Nigerian military aircraft also landed in Bamako, sending Nigerian troops to join regional forces to flush out rebels in northern Mali.

Earlier, France have dispatched 200 troops from Chad to back the Malian government forces to block the rebel fighters from further southward movement.

It was reported that with the support of French air raid, the Mali army has successfully pushed back the rebels in the last few days from Konna, a military base of the army invaded by the rebels on Thursday.

Malian government forces are fighting against the rebels who occupied the northern part of the country since March 2012 following a military coup.

Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs Mankeur Ndiaye announced that his country was to send 500 troops to Mali to assist the Malian army to regain the occupied land. Burkina Faso and Niger have earlier announced each of them would send 500 soldiers to Mali. The United Nations recently asked the African Union (AU) and ECOWAS to produce a detailed plan for a possible military intervention in northern Mali.

R.S