The foreign ministers of Niger and Mali have accused neighbouring states of sponsoring terrorism amid ongoing insecurity in the Sahel, while indicating limited scope for engagement with ECOWAS despite their formal withdrawal.
“There are neighbouring countries that are currently harbouring terrorist groups, supporting terrorist groups, or frequently receiving hostile forces that carry out operations against us,” Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told Reuters on the sidelines of a security forum in Senegal late on Monday (20 April).
Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare said many countries seeking to cooperate with Niger on counterterrorism are also “fuelling, financing and sustaining” terrorism in the country.
Mali, Niger and neighbouring Burkina Faso have been battling jihadist insurgencies for over a decade. All three countries are led by military governments which seized power in coups and then broke away from ECOWAS to form their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
The current chairman of ECOWAS, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, appealed to the AES states to either rejoin the regional bloc or collaborate more with it.
But Mali’s Diop told Reuters that “Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, politically speaking, have withdrawn from ECOWAS.”
“Our withdrawal is final, so there’s no point in saying we’re asking people to come back.”
Nevertheless Diop added that AES could maintain a constructive dialogue with ECOWAS on freedom of movement and preserving a common market.
ℹ️ Reuters
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