A West African military force assembled to intervene against Islamic
radicals in Mali is ready to be deployed as soon as the U.N. issues a
green light, a senior official at the center of the preparations
claimed. (AFP)
By AFP, ADDIS ABABA
The African Union has endorsed a plan for military intervention in Mali,
where Islamists have seized control of its desert north, the AU’s
Commissioner for Peace and Security said Tuesday.
The AU Peace and Security Council “has decided ... to endorse a
harmonized concept of operations for the planned deployment of AFISMA,
which is the African-led mission in support of Mali,” Ramtane Lamamra
told reporters, speaking after an AU peace and security meeting in the
Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Lamamra did not provide details of the mission, but said it aims to
“regain the occupied regions in the north of the country, dismantle the
terrorist and criminal networks and restore effectively the authority of
the state over the entire national territory.”
He said the AU urged the United Nations to “authorize for an initial period of one year the planned deployment” of the force.
West African leaders at an emergency summit in Abuja on Sunday approved a
3,300-strong force for Mali to wrest control of the north from Islamist
extremists as fears grow over risks they pose to the region and beyond.
Lamamra said he believes the U.N. will pass a resolution approving the
mission before the end of the year, but did not confirm when the first
troops could be deployed.
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