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| ECOWAS-led Ouattara wants more global support but France wants Africa to take lead in repelling rebels (Photo Credit: Senenews) |
Mr. Ouattara was speaking in
Abidjan, the Ivorian capital on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, where West African
leaders at an emergency summit called for more global involvement to help repel
rebels in Mali.
France, which led air-strikes against the rebels well before ECOWAS and the African Union could take military steps to resolve the crisis, also asks African nations to join the fight against the Ansar al-Dine-led rebels.
The French wants African
leaders to fast-track the deployment of African troops to boost a
French-backed offensive in Mali against fighters led by the al-Qaeda-linked
militant group.
“The hour has come for a
broader commitment by the major powers and more countries and
organisations to the military operations to show greater solidarity with France
and Africa,” news agencies quoted Mr. Ouattara as saying. "We must speed
up the re-establishment of Mali's territorial integrity with the logistical
support of our partners and go beyond our current deployment
numbers."
He also called for
international financial support for African nations involved in the
attempt to resolve Mali crisis.
At the emergency summit, France foreign minister Laurent Fabius said African nations must take lead.
"France was obliged to
intervene very, very rapidly, otherwise there would have been no more
Mali ... but it is well understood that it is the Africans that must pick
up the baton," he is quoted as saying.
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| Fighters from the Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group MUJWA, who are travelling with a convoy including Burkina Faso foreign minister Djibril Bassole, stand guard in Gao, northern Mali, August |
The summit followed Malian
soldiers who are backed by French troops seizing a key central town from
rebels who had advanced from their northern stronghold, threatening
the capital Bamako.
Horrific rights abuses
As fighting to seize key territories from rebels progressed, a New York-based agency, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had received credible reports of horrific abuses being committed in Mali.
It said reports of serious abuses, including killings, are being committed by Malian security forces against civilians around the central town of Niono.
In a statement HRW said: "We urge the Malian authorities, as well as the French and [West African] soldiers/authorities to do their utmost to ensure the protection of all civilians."
It added that Tuaregs and Arabs, ethnic groups most associated with rebels who have controlled Mali's north, were being especially targeted.
Mission postponed
Meanwhile European Union announced on Friday it has postponed a joint African, Caribbean and Pacific States-European Union (ACP-EU) Parliamentary Assembly fact finding mission to Mali.
In a Jan. 18 statement, the EU said the “Co-Presidents agreed to postpone this mission in order not to hamper the work of the parties most involved on the ground and to respect the decisions adopted by the Security Council of the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS, and after having conducted an evaluation of military and political developments.”
They express full support for France and its allies undertaking action in accordance with the international legal framework of the Charter of the United Nations.
They also welcome the future deployment of the Mission for Support of Mali (MISMA), an African force of 3000 troops from members of the West African States (mainly Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo) - which has been called upon to take over from French military forces.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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