Mauritania Pledges to Reinforce Cooperation with Mali

In his congratulatory message to the newly-inaugurated Malian president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Sunday pledged his country’s commitment to the friendly relations between Nouakchott and Bamako.

The message was issued here on the occasion of Mali’s National Day, celebrated 22 September.

PANA recalls that political analysts are quick to point to the absence of the Mauritanian leader at President Keita’s inauguration on Thursday, to which several African heads of State and the French president, Francois Hollande, attended and to the fact that the Malian leader skipped Mauritania during his tour of the sub-region.

They also noted that Mauritania, which shares 2,000 kilometres of border with Mali, did not participate in the military intervention to reclaim Northern Mali from Islamists who occupied it for nine months.

In addition, they said, members of the political board of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a group that proclaimed its independence from Northern Mali, have found refuge in Nouakchott.