Mali:interim President Dioncounda Traoré addresses the nation.
The President spoke on the 52nd anniversary of Mali's independence recalling the tragedy of the division of Mali with rebel forces in the North dividing the country and forcing Sharia on the population. The rule of AQIM and Mujao persists against the backdrop of lawlessness and the drug trade, he said.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Mali-interim-Pr...
Evoking the ethnic diversity of Mali he said "Sonraïs, Fulani, Arabs, Tuareg, Dogon, Bamanan or other compatriots Gao, Kidal, Tombouctou, Douentza, our thoughts are with you."
However he could offer nothing new to resolve the situation. he called for national unity with the army which needs to be reequipped and strengthened but said the first option would be negotiation with the terrorists in the North and failing that armed intervention. He stressed that the request for ECOWAS forces was agreed with the army and the Prime Minister Cheik Modiobo Diarra.
Spokesmen for the ex junta have affirmed that they are against ECOWAS troops being on Malian soil and the governhment itself has said to ECOWAS that it is unwilling to have ECOWAS forces based in Bamako thecapital, which would deny them a logistical base. ECOWAS said recently that Malian demands on the deployment were unreasonable and they were not on the same "wave length". Cheik Modibo Diarra id meeting President Blaise Campaore in Paris to try to achieve a consensus on the demployment which the UN has now agreed in principle but is still requesting further details and specific targets. Given the urgency of the situation progess is desparately slow.
President Traoré called fro a national effort to restore Mali's territorial integrity and to prepare for elections of a new government. He noted that Mali's private sector and the overall economy are suffering because of the suspension of aid following the breakdown of law and order. Both the President and the Country are mired in uncertainty and no one is in full control.
An article in Mali's La Nouvelle Patrie criticises the President saying he has failed to consolidate his power and is ineffective. Meanwhile L'Indicateur du Renouveau reports that women are being forced to wear the veil and being threatened with imprisonment. It criticises the Bamako government for procrastinating over the decision over the ECOWAS deployment. However Jeune Afrique raises the possibility that AQIM may be running out of money to pay its jihadis and says recruitment has stopped in Timbuktu, hence the pressure to secure a ransom for the remaining hostages. AQIM and Mujao are probably not good administrators and although they can force
the population in the North to obey Sharia ,the people of Gao have shown their rejection of their oppressors. The long term future for AQIM and Mujao is not without its problems.
However he could offer nothing new to resolve the situation. he called for national unity with the army which needs to be reequipped and strengthened but said the first option would be negotiation with the terrorists in the North and failing that armed intervention. He stressed that the request for ECOWAS forces was agreed with the army and the Prime Minister Cheik Modiobo Diarra.
Spokesmen for the ex junta have affirmed that they are against ECOWAS troops being on Malian soil and the governhment itself has said to ECOWAS that it is unwilling to have ECOWAS forces based in Bamako thecapital, which would deny them a logistical base. ECOWAS said recently that Malian demands on the deployment were unreasonable and they were not on the same "wave length". Cheik Modibo Diarra id meeting President Blaise Campaore in Paris to try to achieve a consensus on the demployment which the UN has now agreed in principle but is still requesting further details and specific targets. Given the urgency of the situation progess is desparately slow.
President Traoré called fro a national effort to restore Mali's territorial integrity and to prepare for elections of a new government. He noted that Mali's private sector and the overall economy are suffering because of the suspension of aid following the breakdown of law and order. Both the President and the Country are mired in uncertainty and no one is in full control.
An article in Mali's La Nouvelle Patrie criticises the President saying he has failed to consolidate his power and is ineffective. Meanwhile L'Indicateur du Renouveau reports that women are being forced to wear the veil and being threatened with imprisonment. It criticises the Bamako government for procrastinating over the decision over the ECOWAS deployment. However Jeune Afrique raises the possibility that AQIM may be running out of money to pay its jihadis and says recruitment has stopped in Timbuktu, hence the pressure to secure a ransom for the remaining hostages. AQIM and Mujao are probably not good administrators and although they can force
the population in the North to obey Sharia ,the people of Gao have shown their rejection of their oppressors. The long term future for AQIM and Mujao is not without its problems.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/Mali-interim-Pr...