Meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the foreign ministers of the nations of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—held talks with the Chair of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on renewing cooperation, including joint efforts to combat terrorism in their countries. The three West African states were suspended from the continental body following military coups that ousted their civilian governments and threw out the French colonialist military forces.
“The meeting allowed both parties to discuss prospects for cooperation between the African Union and the AES, after a period marked by misunderstandings and a lack of dialogue and communication,” the AES announced on Sept. 23.
According to the statement, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop and his counterparts Niger’s Bakary Yaou Sangaré and Burkina Faso’s Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré urged the AU to proceed by considering “the realities that prevail in the AES space,” instead of “adhering solely to abstract principles.”
