The issue of the 46 Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali since July is “in the process of being resolved.
The Ivorian Defence Minister told the press on Thursday, after the visit of an official delegation to Bamako.
On 10 July, 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested in Mali, described as “mercenaries”, then charged in mid-August with “attempting to undermine the external security of the state” and formally imprisoned.
Abidjan says the soldiers were on a UN mission providing logistical support to the UN Mission in Mali and is demanding their release, a demand supported by West African heads of state at the last summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which set an ultimatum of 1 January or face new sanctions against Mali.
