Mauritanian FM arrives in Bamako
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mauritanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, arrived in Bamako on Thursday for a "listening and solidarity visit to Mali", PANA learnt from an official source.
As soon as they arrived in the Malian capital, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and his delegation went to the Ministry of Defence and Veterans, where they were received by the president of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), Col. Assimi Goita, the military junta which took power on August 18 in Mali, along with several other members of the CNSP.
At the end of the meeting, the head of the Mauritanian diplomacy told the local press that he had come to Mali on the instruction of President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, to pay a solidarity visit to the Malian people and at the same time to '' inquire about the situation on the spot''.
"For us, everything that affects Mali affects Mauritania. Not only are we neighbours, but we are nested in each other", declared the Mauritanian minister whose country shares a long border with Mali.
Mauritania is the only West African country that is not a member of ECOWAS.
The sub-regional organization has taken strong sanctions against Mali following the seizure of power by the army, including the closure of land and air borders, the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions with Mali and the suspension of this country in all ECOWAS bodies.
On August 28, Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sabri Boukadoun, arrived in Bamako where he was received in audience by the head of the military junta.
During the meeting there was talk on the "continuity of the historical relations of fraternity and solidarity that Algeria has always maintained with Mali", according to Mr. Boukadoun.
Algeria, like Mauritania, shares long borders with Mali and is involved in the search for peace in Mali, through the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement resulting from the Algiers process.
Signed in May-June 2015 in Bamako between the Malian government, the armed groups of northern Mali and the international community, the agreement aims to achieve definitive peace in Mali, after a series of Tuareg rebellions exacerbated by jihadist attacks in the north and in the centre of the country, having killed hundreds of civilians and soldiers and thousands of internal and external refugees.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/SOC/KND/AR 4Sept2020
