BRUSSELS, Aug 19 — EU leaders today called for the immediate release of prisoners held after a coup in Mali, who include the country’s president and prime minister.

Rebel soldiers took President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse into custody yesterday afternoon and drove the pair to a military base on the outskirts of Bamako, which they had seized that morning.

"We call for the immediate freeing of prisoners, and for a return to the state of law,” said EU Council chief Charles Michel after a video summit of the bloc’s 27 leaders.

"We believe that the stability of the region and of Mali, and the fight against terrorism should be an absolute priority,” he added.

The EU has operated a mission training the armed forces in Mali since 2013 and in July announced a joint EU special ops force to back Mali’s fight against jihadist groups.

Jihadist and inter-ethnic violence in Mali and neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso killed at least 4,000 people in 2019, according to the United Nations.

The entire Sahel region is seeing ever more brazen attacks by Islamist groups despite the beefing up of national armies and the deployment of 5,100 French anti-terrorism troops.

Michel said Europe would work in "close cooperation” with international and African institutions involved "so that we can come to a solution that is directly linked to the aspirations of the Mali people.” — AFP