Bamako declines to comment on gold mining ban in Siguiri
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Visionguinee
Mali’s Prime Minister, Abdoulaye Maïga, thanked the Malian people for welcoming gold miners expelled from Guinea, which he described as an unagreed expulsion. He affirmed respect for the sovereignty of states and declined to comment on the decision of the Guinean authorities, according to remarks reported by the press.
Mali’s Prime Minister, General Abdoulaye Maïga, thanked the Malian people for the welcome given to Burkinabè nationals and other people expelled from Guinea following the ban on anarchic gold mining in the Siguiri prefecture, in Upper Guinea. He described this expulsion as « non concerté » (unagreed) and said Bamako refrains from commenting on the measure taken by the Guinean authorities, in the name of respect for the sovereignty of states.
Abdoulaye Maïga referred to the historical, cultural and geographical ties between the two countries, recalling the comparison made by their founding fathers, Ahmed Sékou Touré for Guinea and Modibo Keïta for Mali, who described their relationship as that of two lungs in one body. He also invoked the religious, humanitarian and Pan-African values which, he said, explain the welcome given to the people expelled.
This position follows the one expressed on 9 November at Kourémalé, where he had already described the expulsion of 160,000 people from Guinea as « non concerté » (unagreed).
