Mali says the Alliance of Sahel States comprising itself, Burkina Faso, and Niger, will introduce new biometric passports to reflect the new union as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favor of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries.

Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favor of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries, Mali's leader said on Sunday.

The three junta-led Sahel neighbors jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision.

Burkina Faso announced earlier this month that it was rolling out new passports without the ECOWAS logo.

"In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonizing travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world", Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.

Shared information channel

He spoke ahead of a meeting on Monday between the three countries' foreign ministers on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance.

Goita also said they were planning to launch a shared information channel "in order to promote a harmonious dissemination of information in our three states."

ECOWAS has warned that the three countries' withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 49-year-old bloc.

Their departure comes as their armies battle armed groups, whose insurgencies have destabilized the region over the past decade and threatened to spill over into coastal West African states.

Reuters

Three Sahel nations, including Burkina Faso, to launch a common passport to facilitate the movement of people within their new confederation.

TRT AFRIKA