On August 14, the President of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, was scheduled to visit Mali and Burkina Faso. However, this visit is no longer on the agenda as the Comorian president has been declared persona non grata in both countries.
On July 27, the President of the African Union and Comorian Head of State refused to appear in the group photo at the end of the Russia-Africa summit. The reason for this boycott was the presence of the transitional government President of Mali, Assimi Goïta, and Burkina Faso’s President, Ibrahim Traoré.
In response to the AU President’s gesture, the two presidents decided not to receive him on their respective territories. Azali Assoumani was supposed to visit both countries to discuss electoral schedules with the authorities.
According to the Comorian government spokesperson, who spoke to RFI, President Azali Assoumani could not be part of that photo due to the presence of the two contested and sanctioned coup leaders (Goïta and Traoré) by several organizations. He stated that President Azali Assoumani remains concerned about the return to constitutional order in the countries involved.
