Meeting with Mali’s new leaders delayed
Security concerns send visitors home
BAMAKO/ABIDJAN – Jets carrying West African presidents for a meeting with Mali’s new military leaders were forced to turn back mid-flight on Thursday after hundreds of supporters of last week’s coup invaded Bamako’s main runway.
An official from regional bloc ECOWAS said the meeting, aimed at pressuring coup leaders to swiftly restore constitutional rule after they ousted President Amadou Toumani Touré, could be rescheduled for Friday if security allowed.
“It was called off after the junta allowed demonstrators onto the tarmac,” the official said, asking not to be named. “Understandably, this created a security scare forcing the heads of state to suspend their arrival.”
Pro-junta protesters streamed onto the runway before junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo persuaded them to leave.
Mali’s neighbours say they are ready to use sanctions and possible military force to dislodge its new army leaders. The United States and former colonial ruler France have condemned the coup.
Five leaders – from Ivory Coast, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Liberia – gathered at Abidjan airport on Thursday to discuss the next step. The sixth member of the planned delegation, Nigeria’s Good luck Jonathan, remained in Nigeria, sources said.
“They might return (to Mali) tomorrow if the conditions are auspicious,” the ECOWAS official said. “A lot depends on what they decide in Abidjan and the discipline of the junta in complying with the minimum security requirements.”
Political and civil society groups opposed to the junta called a rally to coincide with the arrival of the ECOWAS leaders and to hash out a plan to add pressure on Sanogo.
Touré, president since 2002, was planning to hand over power following elections set for April.