Mali: Captain Sanogo is officially made the head of the committee for military reform

The investiture ceremony took place at the headquarters of the Presidency, Koulouba, in the presence of the Acting President Dioncounda Traoré, Prime Minister Diango Cissoko and several Malian military leaders.This is the first time Captain Sanogo has taken on an official position since he stepped down as head of state after the coup.

In fact he has retained a powerful position from his base at Kati barracks and it was he who forced the resignation of then then Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra.Now he has an official position he has to prove his efficiency and be responsible for improving the performance of the demoralised Malian army, notably with regard to extra judicial killings of Tuareg by Malian armed forces.

The EU training force of officers and soldiers to help with training the Malian army is arriving as is the remainder of the Ecowas force. Mali is at the moment the hesitating  over the deployment of a UN force mainly because of the command and control aspects f an internationally controlled forcetaking over in Mali. Captain Sanogo was reported as being against the intervention of the Ecowas force for this very reason. Internal discipline within the Malian army will be a key issue as it combats insurgency actions by jihadists suchas therecent attack on Gao.