The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Mali has acknowledged there were “dysfunctions” that preceded a row with the Malian authorities sparked by the arrival of Ivorian troops at Bamako airport this month. Mali’s military-led government says 49 Ivorian soldiers were detained after landing on a special flight on July 10 without supporting documents and has described them as “mercenaries”. But Ivory Coast says they were sent to provide routine back-up duties for the Ivorian contingent in the MINUSMA peacekeeping operation, and is demanding their release.
Asked by the government to explain the situation, MINUSMA said in a reply seen by AFP “it appears that certain measures were not taken.” “The Mission is trying to understand how these dysfunctions were able to occur in order to avoid them occurring again in the future,” it said. The message to the Malian foreign ministry, known as a note verbale, was confirmed by the Malian authorities on Monday as being genuine. There was no immediate response from MINUSMA to a request for comment. The spat takes place against a backdrop of problems in Mali, one of Africa’s poorest and most unstable countries.
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