ECOWAS is right body to address crisis in north Mali, says AFRICOM chief



General Carter Ham

       

“It is my opinion that the presence of US troops in Mali will create more difficulties than it will contribute in a positive way. So the US will look to ECOWAS for ideas on how we can contribute in ways other than military presence,” he said.

According to Ham, the US has been diplomatically supporting ECOWAS efforts on Mali, and “would consider a request for logistical assistance and matters such as that”.

Ham insisted that the first step in addressing the crisis in Mali is to establish a legitimate government in Bamako with whom ECOWAS and other countries and organizations could work.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the right organisation to address the crisis in northern Mali which has to begin with the establishment of a legitimate government in Bamako the capital, General Carter Ham, commander of the Germany-based United States Command for Africa (AFRICOM), said on Thursday in Dakar, during a round table with major media organisations based in Senegal.

Emphasising on the role the sub-regional bloc has to play in the Mali crises, Ham said “we strongly believe this is a matter for ECOWAS and we are ready to help.”

Responding to a question on whether the US was planning a military intervention in Mali considering that ECOWAS has asked for United Nations Security Council’s backing for such an intervention to reclaim the north, Ham said the “United States is supportive of ECOWAS efforts to re-establish stability in northern Mali which does not mean US will deploy troops”.

The AFRICOM commander is in Senegal after visiting Guinea and Cape Verde within the framework of a tour to exchange with military partners and discuss coordinating their joint activities.

It could be recalled that Mali has been destabilised by secession in the north and a coup d'etat in Bamako (south) which toppled former head of state Amadou Toumani Toure on 22 March.

ECOWAS has been trying to find a solution to the crises. It recently set a 31 July-deadline for all stakeholders in Mali, i.e. political and civil society organisations, to form a government of national union in a bid to replace the current transition government headed by Sheikh Modibo Diarra.

Separatist Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (MNLA) fought along various radical Islamist groups to secede from the rest of the country on 6th April.

The MNLA has since lost control of the north to the Islamist groups of Ansar Dine, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQMI) and the Movement for the Unicity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJOA), which are implementing strict Islamic law (Sharia) in the region while the transition in Bamako is yet to run smoothly due to the several political bickering going on.

First posted on 26July 2012 in apanews.net