By Portia Crowe
DIAMNIADIO, Senegal, April 21 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Niger and Mali have accused neighbouring countries of sponsoring terrorism, but said they were willing to cooperate on some matters with the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, from which they formally split last year.
The accusations underscore regional rifts in West Africa that can complicate efforts to curb jihadist violence across the Sahel, a semi-arid belt of land stretching across Africa.
Mali, Niger and neighbouring
Burkina Faso have been battling jihadist insurgencies for over a decade. All three countries are led by military governments which seized power in coups and then broke away from ECOWAS to form their own bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
"There are neighbouring countries that are currently harbouring terrorist groups, supporting terrorist groups, or frequently receiving hostile forces that carry out operations against us," Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told Reuters on the sidelines of a security forum in Senegal late on Monday.
He declined to name which neighbours he was referring to but added that foreign powers outside the region were also involved.
He said Ukrainian mercenaries had attacked Mali and claimed responsibility, in an apparent reference to comments by a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency (GUR) about fighting in northern Mali in 2024.
Ukraine said at the time there was no evidence that it had played a role in the fighting. It has since denied supplying drones to rebels in the north of Mali.
Tensions have also been high between Mali and Mauritania in recent weeks, with Mali claiming two of its soldiers were held by armed groups across the border, and Mauritania saying it was offended by the claim, which it denied.
ECOWAS CHAIR APPEALS FOR BETTER TIES
Niger's Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare said in a speech at the forum that many countries seeking to cooperate with Niger on counterterrorism are also "fuelling, financing and sustaining" terrorism in the country.
He told Reuters he was referring to France. The French foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Niger's military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani in January blamed French, Benin and Ivory Coast presidents for sponsoring an attack on the country's international airport, an accusation he made without offering any evidence.
The current chairman of ECOWAS, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio, appealed to the AES states to either rejoin the regional bloc or collaborate more with it.
But Mali's Diop told Reuters that "Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, politically speaking, have withdrawn from ECOWAS."
"Our withdrawal is final, so there's no point in saying we're asking people to come back."
Nevertheless Diop added that AES could maintain a constructive dialogue with ECOWAS on freedom of movement and preserving a common market.
(Reporting by Portia Crowe, Editing by William Maclean)
