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Mali: U.N. Security Council approves ECOWAS, AU military intervention
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a plan to back an African-led military force to help the Mali army oust Islamic militants who seized the northern half of the country and are turning it into an al-Qaeda terrorist hub.
The resolution expresses alarm over the infiltration by “al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), affiliated groups and other extremist groups,” and condemns “the abuses of human rights committed in the north of Mali by terrorist and other extremist groups.”
The U.N.’s assistant secretary-general for human rights returned from Mali to tell reporters this week that al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic militias have imposed a harsh version of Shariah law on the north.
It has been reported that al-Qaeda had abolished taxes in the north and were using extortion, ransom payments and funds from drug transshipping to establish their rule, he said.
Children are being recruited to build bombs and to serve as soldiers, with payments made to their families of US$600 on enlistment and US$400 a month afterward.
More than 1.5 million Malians have had to flee their homes, with some 40,000 displaced people in the regional city of Mopti. Over 100,000 refugees have registered in Mauritania, over 100,000 in Burkina Faso, 40,000 in Niger and 30,000 in Algeria.
The resolution adopted Friday gives Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 45 days to help Mali, the West Africans and the African Union (AU) develop plans to recover the occupied territory. It invokes Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter, which opens the door to military intervention and enforcement of the council’s decisions. It also calls for help from the African Union to help train and assist the Malian army to retake the north.
Another resolution authorizing deployment and backing of the African peacekeeping force would have to come later, after Ban sends specific recommendations to the Security Council.
The main thrust of the plan is likely to be hammered out at an October 19 meeting in Bamako, Mali, of representatives of the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS), the African Union and neighboring countries.
The Economic Community of West African States and Mali’s transitional government asked the Security Council in September to authorize a military intervention to oust the al-Qaeda linked Islamists. But the council said it wanted the West African group to prepare a “feasible” plan with “detailed options” for a force, and to coordinate with other African nations.
French President Francois Hollande said Thursday that any military intervention must be carried out only by Africans. He emphasized France’s willingness to provide material and training, but said “There will be no (French) troops on the ground.”
Mali’s democratically elected leader was ousted in a military coup in March. The junta accused him of failing to quell a rebellion in the north, which began in January. After the coup, Tuareg rebels took advantage of the power vacuum and within weeks took control of the north, aided by an Islamist faction. But the Islamists quickly ousted the Tuaregs and took control of half the country.
Friday’s resolution urges the transitional authorities and Malian secular rebel groups such as the Tauregs to cut off their ties to al-Qaeda and negotiate as soon as possible “in order to seek a sustainable political solution” to the crisis.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.