New Mali interim President Dioncounda Traore threatens "total war"
Mali's new interim President, Dioncounda Traore, has threatened a "total war" against separatist rebels in the north.He called on the rebels to "return to the fold and to strengthen this nation instead of dividing it," adding that if they do not, "we will not hesitate to wage a total and relentless war."
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/New-Mali-interi...
However Captain Amadou Sanogo the coup leader who has agreed to stand aside told the BBC subsequently: "The agreement is clear. [Traore] will be here for 40 days and after 40 days, my committee and Ecowas will sit together and fix transition organs."Asked if that meant he would be back in power after that time, he replied: "I didn't say that. I don't know.".
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States has raised the prospect of sending a force of up to 3,000 men to try to reclaim the region, but the mission’s logistical details and mandate are far from resolved.
“We prefer peace, but if war is the only solution, we will make it with our army,” said Traore, AFP reported.
The UN and US have warned of a growing terrorist threat in Northern Mali with the presence of AQIM and even members of Boko Haram and Harakat al-Tawhid w'al-Jihad fi Gharbi Afriqiyya (Movement for Monotheism /Unity and Jihad in West Africa(MUJWA) as well as Ansar Dine the islamist group led by Iyad Ag Ghali who want a
Sharia state but are not seeking independence.
Infact the ethnic make up in Northern Mali is highly complex as the Tuareg are but one of a number of groups .
The Turaeg temselves are divided and not all support the MNLA who have declared anindependent Azwad or Ansar Dine who have called for a sharia ruled state. There is, according to the authoratitive blog The Moor Next Door, the Front de libération nationale de l’Azawad (FLNA) which has emerged, opposed to both shari’ah (promoted by AQIM, Ansar Eddine and MUJWA) and independence for the Azawad in northern Mali (promoted by the MNLA); the group is being described as an Arab armed group, drawn from members of the Arab militia that fled Timbuktu following the advance of the MNLA, Ansar Eddine and associated forces; the group is led by a Mohamed Lamine Sidad. Arabs and Tuareg are yet another division in this complex scenario.
Loose relations between ethnically divided terrorist and smuggling groups trading in narcotics weapons and european hostages threatens not only Mali but the entire Sahel region with chaos.
It was only a month ago that the assembled armed forces of the Sahel together with American and European allies were holding a security meeting in Nouakchott.
Clearly order needs to be rapidly reestablished in the region to prevent the escalating chaos. The number of refugees fleeing their homes and land , now over 200,000 in Mali have spilled over into Niger and its neighbours including Mauritania which are suffering acute food shortages after prolonged drought and millions face starvation and a slow death particularly the children as Oxfam ,Save the Children and the Red Cross have been pointing out for sometime. They are the victims of the situation but unless resolute action is taken by the Sahel countries led by Algeria,Ecowas and the US and its European allies the consequences for North Africa as a whole could be incalcuable.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States has raised the prospect of sending a force of up to 3,000 men to try to reclaim the region, but the mission’s logistical details and mandate are far from resolved.
“We prefer peace, but if war is the only solution, we will make it with our army,” said Traore, AFP reported.
The UN and US have warned of a growing terrorist threat in Northern Mali with the presence of AQIM and even members of Boko Haram and Harakat al-Tawhid w'al-Jihad fi Gharbi Afriqiyya (Movement for Monotheism /Unity and Jihad in West Africa(MUJWA) as well as Ansar Dine the islamist group led by Iyad Ag Ghali who want a
Sharia state but are not seeking independence.
Infact the ethnic make up in Northern Mali is highly complex as the Tuareg are but one of a number of groups .
The Turaeg temselves are divided and not all support the MNLA who have declared anindependent Azwad or Ansar Dine who have called for a sharia ruled state. There is, according to the authoratitive blog The Moor Next Door, the Front de libération nationale de l’Azawad (FLNA) which has emerged, opposed to both shari’ah (promoted by AQIM, Ansar Eddine and MUJWA) and independence for the Azawad in northern Mali (promoted by the MNLA); the group is being described as an Arab armed group, drawn from members of the Arab militia that fled Timbuktu following the advance of the MNLA, Ansar Eddine and associated forces; the group is led by a Mohamed Lamine Sidad. Arabs and Tuareg are yet another division in this complex scenario.
Loose relations between ethnically divided terrorist and smuggling groups trading in narcotics weapons and european hostages threatens not only Mali but the entire Sahel region with chaos.
It was only a month ago that the assembled armed forces of the Sahel together with American and European allies were holding a security meeting in Nouakchott.
Clearly order needs to be rapidly reestablished in the region to prevent the escalating chaos. The number of refugees fleeing their homes and land , now over 200,000 in Mali have spilled over into Niger and its neighbours including Mauritania which are suffering acute food shortages after prolonged drought and millions face starvation and a slow death particularly the children as Oxfam ,Save the Children and the Red Cross have been pointing out for sometime. They are the victims of the situation but unless resolute action is taken by the Sahel countries led by Algeria,Ecowas and the US and its European allies the consequences for North Africa as a whole could be incalcuable.
Source : https://www.marocafrik.com/english/New-Mali-interi...