Ivory Coast demands release of its 49 soldiers arrested in Mali

Ivory Coast on Tuesday called on the Malian military government to immediately release its 49 soldiers arrested since Sunday.

This came a day after Mali's transitional government announced that it arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers upon arrival in the capital Bamako.

It accused the soldiers of holding weapons and ammunition of war "without a mission order" and were considered "mercenaries" to be prosecuted.

But a statement issued by the Ivory Coast's president's office after the National Security Council meeting in Abidjan said the Ivorian soldiers were "unjustly arrested."

"These soldiers are regularly registered in the Ivorian army and were in Mali as part of the operations of the national support elements (NSE). In view of the above, the National Security Council calls on the Malian authorities to release, without delay, the Ivorian soldiers unjustly arrested," the statement said.

Under the UN peacekeeping operations, troop and police-contributing countries may decide to deploy NSEs to provide their deployed contingents administrative and logistical services.

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said on Tuesday that although the arrested soldiers are not formally part of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, sending NSEs is "a common practice in peacekeeping missions."

Upon the soldiers' arrival in Mali last Sunday, as part of the eighth rotation, a copy of the mission order of the contingent was sent to the Malian airport authorities as well as the Foreign Ministry and the Chief of Staff of the Malian Armed Forces, according to the Ivorian government.

The statement said that no Ivorian soldier in the contingent was in possession of weapons and ammunition of war as alleged by the Malian authorities.