Mali suspended from African Union, threatened with sanctions

Addis Ababa, June 2, 2021 (FBC) – Mali’s membership in the African Union has been suspended with immediate effect and the impoverished country threatened with sanctions following a second military coup in nine months.

The AU “decides … to immediately suspend the Republic of Mali from participation in all activities of the African Union, its organs and institutions, until normal constitutional order has been restored in the country”, the body’s Peace and Security Council said in a statement late on Tuesday.

AU calls on military to ‘urgently and unconditionally return to barracks’ and to refrain from further interference in Mali’s political process.

The AU called for the military to “urgently and unconditionally return to the barracks, and to refrain from further interference in the political processes in Mali”.

It warned that if the military did not hand back power to civilian transitional leaders, “the Council will not hesitate to impose targeted sanctions and other punitive measures”.

Condemning the coup “in the strongest terms possible”, it added it was “deeply concerned about the evolving situation in Mali and its negative impact on the gains made thus far in the transition process in the country”.