Senegal Leader Makes First Visit To Junta-run Mali, Burkina

Faizan Hashmi Published May 31, 2024 | 10:30 AM

Bamako, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st May, 2024) On Thursday, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye began his first visit to Mali and Burkina Faso to strengthen ties with these two states that have quit regional bloc ECOWAS.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are all under military rule following coups.

In January, the trio announced they were quitting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which they said was under French influence, to create their own regional grouping -- the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Faye landed in the Malian capital on Thursday and headed to the presidential palace where he held talks with junta head Colonel Assimi Goita.

Faye later told reporters he found Goita to be "not totally inflexible" on the possibility of a reconciliation with ECOWAS.

"I do not despair of seeing ECOWAS getting back on track, on new foundations that will spare us the situation we are currently going through," he said, without elaborating.

Faye later arrived in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, where junta leader Ibrahim Traore received him, the regime said on its website.

"These visits are part of a drive to strengthen the historical ties of good neighborliness, fraternal friendship, solidarity and multifaceted cooperation," the Senegalese presidency said in a statement earlier.

Faye has made several trips across West Africa since being sworn in as the continent's youngest-elected president in early April.

The choice of destinations within the continent "speaks volumes about the importance of strengthening pan-Africanism and reinvigorating sub-regional integration in his diplomatic priorities," a Senegalese government statement said.

Faye, 44, was elected on a promise of radical change and has said he wants to bring Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger back into ECOWAS.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged Faye to use his goodwill within the bloc to help resolve disputes with the three states.

Faye traveled to Guinea on Saturday to meet General Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a September 2021 coup.