France would back African lead intervention in Mali
August 6, 2012
France’s Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has stated that France would back an African lead military intervention in Islamist-held northern Mali.
But even if he believed such an operation was inevitable – and desirable – it was not for France to take the lead, he added.
“It is not for France to take the military initiative in Mali,” he told journalists during a visit to Lorient in northwest France.
France, he said, “wants it to be the African forces, in particular those of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and possibly the African Union (AU), that take the initiative,” he said.
He said an African military intervention in northern Mali was “desirable and inevitable.”
“France will support it and, I hope, the European Union also.”
At stake was political stability in the south of the country which was not yet guaranteed, even if interim president Dioncounda Traore had returned to the country from Paris earlier this week, he added.
The situation in the north of the country was “very worrying”, said Le Drian.
The hardline Islamists who occupied the vast north in the chaos following a coup have tightened control over the area, imposing a harsh form of Islamic law.
Among those now in power in the north are the Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Late last month, members of the new Islamist regime dragged an unmarried couple to the centre of the town of Aguelhok for a public stoning, the first reported execution according to strict Sharia law since the takeover.
“We must … avoid (letting) Mali become a ‘Sahelistan’…,” Le Drian said, drawing a parallel with hardline Islamist forces in Afghanistan.
Source – AFP.
Nkemnji Global Tech
Featured
Kenya:Three dead following shooting spree in Kisumu
Pan African Visions | March 5, 2021 3:32 pm
Cameroon: Boost for Human Rights Crusade As Maxi Ngo Mbe Bags 2021 International Woman of Courage Award boost
Pan African Visions | March 5, 2021 4:59 am
flydubai expands its operations to Romania with the launch of flights to Cluj-Napoca
Pan African Visions | March 5, 2021 2:18 am
Kenya’s investigative agency, DCI, receives forensic lab equipment from Germany
Pan African Visions | March 4, 2021 8:01 pm
Recent News
-
Rwanda launches mass vaccination drive for COVID-19
March 6, 2021 7:32 am
-
Rwanda: Latest Court Hearing Reveals Details on Arrest of Rusesabagina
March 6, 2021 6:40 am
-
Kenya:WHO dismisses false reports on Covid-19 vaccine
March 5, 2021 3:39 pm
-
Kenya:Three dead following shooting spree in Kisumu
March 5, 2021 3:32 pm
-
“The Experiencing Public Relations Book is our contribution to the body of knowledge in Public Relations” says Olorundero
March 5, 2021 3:18 pm
Leave a Reply