The Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS Member States has endorsed the report and outcome of the Technical Assessment Mission to Mali and called for international support for the planned deployment of an ECOWAS Mission in Mali (MICEMA) to help restore the country’s national integrity and return constitutional order.
According to release from ECOWAS, the Committee also fixed 9th August 2012 for a final planning conference in Mali in preparation for the deployment of the 3,000-strong troops.
The opening ceremony of the emergency meeting held at the Defence Headquarters in Abidjan was presided over by Cote d’Ivoire’s Minister of Defence in the Office of the Presidency, Paul Koffi Koffi.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Suleiman called on the Chiefs of Defence Staff to redouble their efforts to ensure enduring peace and security in the region.
Specifically, she urged them to work out details with timelines of the planned deployment of troops in Mali, which she said the international community would buy into, and which would meet the approval of the United Nations Security Council.
The Chairman of the CCDS, General Soumaila Bakayoko of Cote d’Ivoire, expressed satisfaction with the quality of work and the professionalism of the Technical Assessment Team, and assured that modalities of the planned deployment would meet the approval of the UN Security Council.
The Chiefs of Defence Staff noted that the gravity of the political, security and humanitarian situations in Mali constituted a serious threat to peace, not only in Mali but also in the entire region.
The Committee noted that in order to carry the international community along, the deployment of the troops was contingent on a formal request by the Malian Government and subsequent approval by the United Nations Security Council.
The meeting was attended by Chiefs of Defence Staff, some Chiefs of Police and Gendarmeries of Member States and the Special Representative of the President of the ECOWAS Commission to Mali, Mr. Aboudou Cheaka Toure, among others.
