The ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) ended its two-day 
emergency meeting on 15th September 2012 in Abidjan, reiterating some of the 
proposals from its two extra-ordinary meetings of 14th and 24th August 2012 in 
Bamako and Abidjan, respectively, for the resolution of the crisis in Mali. 

These include soliciting the support of the governments of neighbouring 
Algeria and Mauritania to help facilitate the deployment of the ECOWAS Mission 
in Mali (MICEMA). 

The meeting was convened to review a request by the Government of Mali to 
ECOWAS soliciting assistance to recover the occupied territory in the North of 
Mali as well as combat terrorism. 

The CCDS called on ECOWAS and the Malian government to embark on a massive 
media campaign to help create and sustain the awareness of the citizens of 
Mali, including the Armed Forces, on the deployment of the Mission. 

The Chiefs of Defence Staff called on the Malian authorities to intensify 
efforts at an inter-Malian dialogue with the rebels under a national mechanism 
of strategic management to ensure the resolution of the crisis.  

The Malian authorities were also urged to comply with UN Resolution 2056 on 
the total withdrawal of the National Council for the Recovery and Restoration 
of the State (CNDRE) from the political arena.

Resolution 2056 also calls for the dissolution of the CNDRE and demands that 
its members refrain from any interference in political matters and in the work 
of the Transitional authorities. 

 
At the opening on Friday, 14th September 2012, the ECOWAS Commissioner for 
Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Mrs. Salamatu Hussaini Suleiman, the 
Minister of Defence of Mali, Mr. Paul Koffi Koffi and the Chief of Defence 
Staff of Cote d’Ivoire, Lieutenant-General Soumaila Bakayoko, stressed the 
sensitivity and importance of the meeting.

They expressed the need to meet the expectations of the Authority of Heads of 
State and Government by successfully addressing the threats and challenges to 
peace and security in the region, restoring the territorial integrity of Mali 
and helping to ensure a peaceful transition and return to the normal 
Constitutional rule in the country.