US seeks all-round solution to end instability in Mali

AS the UN Security Council prepares to pave the way for military intervention against militants in Mali, the United States is pushing for a broader solution to the nation’s political crisis.
Mali’s West African allies and former colonial power France are focused on defeating the militants, but efforts to resolve the crisis have been hampered by a military coup in the capital and by an ethnic Tuareg rebellion. “We want to see the territorial integrity of Mali fully restored. We want to see democracy, stability and development fully restored,” the top US diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson said. The west African nation, where the democratically-elected government was ousted in a March coup, is facing “four separate, but over-arching, problems,” explained Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
“Which makes it one of the most complex and difficult situations in Africa today facing resolution.”
He highlighted the lack of a democratic and credible government; the marginalization of the Tuareg people dating back to the early days of French rule; the threat posed by militants; and a food crisis.
Mali lies in the Sahel region, a vast semi-desert on the southern edge of the Sahara plagued by drought and political instability.
The US supports an initiative for an African-led force to help flush out militant organizations. A draft resolution on a military intervention in Mali was put before the UN Security Council, French officials said, adding that they believed it would be adopted.
The Security Council urged African regional groups and the United Nations to present within 45 days a specific plan for military intervention in Mali to help government troops reclaim the north of the country from extremists. But Carson stressed all the issues facing Mali need to be worked on in parallel to pull the country “out of the difficult situation it is in now.” “They need to be looked at as a set of challenges that must be dealt with” together, he said, suggesting that recent success in finally restoring a government in Somalia after two decades of civil war could prove a model.
“One should take a look at why it’s successful and see if it has applicability for what needs to be done,” the assistant secretary said. “I think it’s important that we take a comprehensive approach.
“It does not mean that one of these issues should derail or slow down movement in the other areas... there are some areas that are going to move much faster and require much more energy, activity, resources.” Washington is pushing the transitional government and interim president Dioncounda Traore to move towards restoring democracy — which would also mean the resumption of US funded programs slashed in the wake of the coup.
The United State has said it will support a well-planned and well-resourced African-led intervention, and while it has not ruled out any direct US military intervention, analysts believe that is unlikely.
“Of course all contingencies are being considered, but I really don’t see the very strong likelihood of a US direct intervention,” Downie said. UN chief Ban and aid groups have warned a military operation needs careful planning as pouring arms and weaponry into the region could worsen the plight of millions of people. “The crisis is multi-dimensional and there are many risks still associated to a possible deployment of a regional force in the north,” Gilles Yabi, West Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group said.
“It is not going to be a peacekeeping operation, but a military operation in a very difficult terrain targeting mobile groups.”
He highlighted issues such as the collapse of state institutions, and the coexistence of many different communities.
“An ECOWAS mission will not solve all these problems but could be used as a conduit for a larger international effort to restructure, retrain, re-equip the Malian forces in a dual objective of recapturing the north and protecting the rest of the country against further instability,” he said.