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Roundup: Mali gov't differs with experts on reduction of UN peacekeepers

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Malian government has differed with Malian experts on the need to reduce or maintain the number of peacekeepers deployed under the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop called for the reduction when he presented a report on Mali to the UN secretary general early this week.

"This proposal is not meant to push the UN out of Mali. It is meant to encourage the development of a roadmap for the reduction of the peacekeepers because the mission was not meant to be eternal," the minister said.

He said "there is no suggestion of such or such date." But, according to him, "this should be a political objective that we should all be working towards achieving."

Diop said "there's need for more deeper exchanges on this political objective since it will increase the probability of success for this mission."

"Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has done everything possible to ensure our defense and security forces work in the best conditions, besides reinforcing national cohesion among Malians, something that is necessary for our country's sovereignty," Diop concluded.

However, the minister's position on disengagement of MINUSMA is not shared by Ousmane Kornio, a Malian expert on conflict prevention and security in the Sahel.

"In my opinion, there is an urgent need to see how to slightly change MINUSMA's mandate, because the initial mission was a stabilization mission. Today, things have progressed positively," the expert told Xinhua.

The expert said it was too early to call for the reduction of the numbers of peacekeepers, but instead they should be increased to ensure full implementation of the peace agreement signed in 2015.

"At this stage, it is suicidal to ask for a reduction of the number of MINUSMA peacekeepers on the ground. The UN mission has began an assignment that it must accomplish," another journalist, Alpha Mahamane, told Xinhua.

"At this moment, MINUSMA's support is more crucial for Mali government's efforts to provide technical services, especially in the North where the mission is contributing to the re-establishment of the Malian administration.

In addition, Malian army needs MINUSMA's support to recapture the occupied positions, without forgetting that on the social front, MINUSMA is helping communities affected by the crisis," the journalist concluded. Endit