BAMAKO: Dozens of Ivorian soldiers held in Mali and accused of being mercenaries have been charged with attempting to harm state security and remanded in custody, judicial sources said on Sunday.

But negotiations between Ivory Coast and Mali to obtain the release of the 49 soldiers were continuing, said a source close to the talks.

A Malian judicial source said a Bamako prosecutor charged the soldiers on Friday. They have already been detained for more than a month. Another source close to the judge and an official at Mali’s justice ministry confirmed.

Ivory Coast has denied the accusation and demanded the troops be released, saying they were reinforcements to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

Negotiations have started to free the soldiers, with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe acting as a mediator.

A source close to the talks said they had made some progress but stalled over “certain points, stalled on certain points”, which might explain the return to the judicial process.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2022