Cote d’Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara, has welcomed back home forty six (46) Ivorian soldiers previously detained for several months in Mali.
The return home weekend Saturday, January 7, 2023 at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny international airport in Port-Bouët.
In his statement the Ivorian head of State hailed the courage, discipline, tenacity and patriotism of these soldiers who have nothing to reproach themselves for, and thanked all the Heads of State who were involved in their release, in particular the Presidents Faure Gnassingbé of Togo and Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, current President of ECOWAS.
President Alassane Ouattara also welcomed the involvement of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, who provided the necessary clarifications in this file.
He described the return of the soldiers as “normality in relations between Côte d’Ivoire and Mali”, because whatever the misunderstandings brothers always manage to understand each other.
He then praised the virtues of diplomacy, a way that led to this successful conclusion and could have not be otherwise, according to him, because Mali is a brotherly and friendly country.
He whole-heartedly welcomed the return of their soldiers as well as the mobilization of the Nation for this cause that lasted for several months.
President Alassane Ouattara also reiterated the availability of Côte d’Ivoire to continue to support all African or other countries that need peace, because without peace, there can be no development.
The neighboring Head of State expressed his ardent wish to see Mali, a brother country, find peace and manage to fight terrorism and insecurity to organize elections democratic and constitutional as of next year, as decreed by mutual agreement between the Malian authorities and ECOWAS.
Meanwhile the Ivorian leader has reaffirmed Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to always defend each of its sons and each of its daughters, whatever the difficulties.
It can be recorded that before the Head of State, the spokesperson for the forty six (46) soldiers, Lieutenant Kouassi, and the Minister of State, Minister of Defense, Mr. Téné Birahima Ouattara, intervened to express their gratitude to President Alassane Ouattara and their joy for this release
