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MALI – MINUSMA mission ends

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The UN Security Council ends the peacekeeping mission in Mali. The MINUSMA peacekeepers and police will have left Mali by the end of the year. In the meantime, the largest UN peacekeeping force can only take care of its departure; it will no longer have a mandate to provide political support or to investigate human rights. And from 1 October onwards, peacekeepers will no longer have the right to protect civilians.

In two minutes, 15 arms rose and the Security Council dismantled MINUSMA after almost a decade of peacekeeping in Mali. Contrary to tradition, France, which coordinates the dossier, did not comment on the vote. It was the Ghanaian ambassador who immediately recognized his crucial role in securing the country. He reminded the Malian junta of its responsibilities vis-à-vis its neighbors, hopes a better coordination with the ECOWAS and already announces that the G5 Sahel will be affected by the departure of the MINUSMA.

Mali regrets that the Council regards the situation as threatening
Then a group of ambassadors, led by the United States, warned that this withdrawal would “hurt” Malians on the front lines. “Although we regret the decision of the transitional government to abandon MINUSMA and the fact that it will harm the people of Mali, we voted in favour of the resolution as we are satisfied with the withdrawal plan adopted.”said US representative Jeffrey DeLaurentis after the vote.

They called on the transitional authorities not to break the electoral process, and to cooperate fully at the outset: any hindrance, any chaos, could benefit the terrorists, they said. The United Nations also fears that their bases will simply be taken over by the Wagner paramilitaries in six months.

Malian ambassador Issa Konfourou tried to reassure on the conditions of withdrawal, which will be refined over the next 6 weeks. The Government of the Republic of Mali will ensure that the commitments made in this regard are respected. The Government regrets that the Council continues to regard the situation in Mali as a threat to international peace and security, despite the tangible results achieved on the ground by the Malian armed forces and the return to the peaceful and secure constitutional order.”

While the Malian representative emphasized the military failure of MINUSMA, he nevertheless recognized the usefulness of the force in terms of humanitarian assistance and the good offices of the Secretary General.

The most expensive UN mission
On 16 June, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, speaking before the Security Council about the “failure” of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA), called for its “immediate withdrawal”.

The Security Council, which was preparing to examine a possible renewal of the mandate, therefore had to resolve to sign the death sentence of the most expensive UN mission ($1.2 billion a year) which has about ten bases spread over the territory. It was created in 2013 to help stabilize a state in danger of collapse under jihadist pressure, protect civilians, contribute to the peace effort and defend human rights.

Relations between Bamako and the mission had deteriorated significantly since the military took power in 2020.

The sequence was an unexpected acceleration of the history of MINUSMA. We did not expect such a sudden end. We could have, because of this acceleration, a divorce in the heartbreak. And finally, what we have tonight is a formal divorce contract, adopted by consensus. Even if there are regrets on both sides. It remains to be seen whether this contract will be applied to the letter, under what conditions…

Moscow renews its “unwavering support” for Mali
The head of Russian diplomacy renewed his “unwavering support” to Mali in a telephone interview with his Malian counterpart just after the announcement of the withdrawal of the UN mission (MINUSMA) in the country, according to a statement issued on Friday by the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sergei Lavrov “renewed his country’s unwavering support for Mali in both the military-technical and humanitarian and economic assistance fields”., writes the communiqué published on social networks shortly after the adoption by the UN Security Council of the resolution ending MINUSMA.

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MALI

MALI – Nigerian military leader’s first visit abroad to Bamako

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The head of the military regime in Niger, General Abdourahamane Tiani, landed on Thursday, November 23, 2023 in Bamako and is to meet his counterpart at the head of the Malian junta for his first international visit since the coup in Niamey, found a AFP correspondent.

Mali and Burkina, led by soldiers who came to power in coups in 2020 and 2022, had quickly shown their solidarity with the generals of Niamey after taking power in late July.

Together, they created a “Alliance of Sahel States” (AES) which provides mutual assistance in the event of an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the three States and strengthened economic ties.

United against international pressure for a return to democratic regimes, the two military regimes are also united against the jihadists whose attacks are ravaging their country.

General Tiani is to stay a few hours in Bamako and meet the head of the Malian junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta, for a “friendship and work” visit, according to the Malian presidency.

The duration of the transition in Niger is not yet known, but General Tiani announced shortly after taking power that it would not exceed three years. In Mali, the presidential election scheduled for early 2024 has been postponed indefinitely.

A statement issued on Thursday morning indicates that Bamako will host from 23 November to 1 December two ministerial meetings “with a view to identifying prospects for the operationalization of the AES”, including the drafting of texts, the establishment of the bodies and the procedures for its operation.

The first will bring together the Ministers of Economy and Trade on 25 November for economic development issues. The foreign ministers of the three countries will meet on 30 November for political and diplomatic matters.

These meetings will precede a meeting of defence ministers at a later date.

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MALI – General El Hadj Ag Gamou appointed Governor of Kidal

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In Mali, General El Hadj Ag Gamou was appointed Wednesday, November 22, 2023 governor of the Kidal region. One week after the capture of the city, stronghold of the rebels of the CSP (Permanent Strategic Framework), by the Malian army and its proxies of Wagner, the appointment of this military leader Tuareg faithful to the Malian State reveals a strategy of the Malian transitional authorities.

General El Hadj Ag Gamou does not like to appear in public, but he is well known to all Malians, especially in the north. In 2012, while Tuareg army cadres deserted one by one to join the independence rebellion, the one who was still a colonel was the only one to remain faithful to Bamako.

Two years later, Gamou created the Tuareg Imghad and Allies Self-Defence Group (Gatia), a northern armed group, signatory to the future 2015 peace agreement, within the pro-State Malian Platform.

Distrust of the transitional authorities
Two years ago, in December 2021, the transitional Malian authorities disembark him from his post as inspector general of the armed forces. At the time, the CSP is not a rebellion, this coalition still brings together all the armed groups signatory to the peace agreement and the game of General Gamou within it is considered troubled by the leaders of the Transition. But mistrust does not last: today, Bamako is counting on him to bring the inhabitants of Kidal back into the fold of the State.

General Gamou is not from Kidal, but he knows the city and the region well, where he served for a long time. Above all, it is Imghad, a Tuareg fraction considered as «vassal» of that of the Ifoghas, who assumes the traditional leadership in Kidal and from which the main rebel leaders originate. «He is the one who will be able to gather», judges a Malian security source. «He will reassure the Tuaregs», says a close friend of General Gamou.

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MALI- Tuareg separatists deny the existence of a mass grave in Kidal

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Tuareg separatists have denied the existence of a mass grave that the Malian army claimed to have discovered last week in Kidal (north), a rebel stronghold city recently taken over by the junta and its allies.

These “allegations”, “obviously fabricated”, are “a pure diversion obviously intended to mask the horrible massacres committed by the terrorist duo Wagner-FAMa (Malian armed forces),” the separatists said in a statement, Wednesday, November 22, 2023.

“In the Kidal region, no allegations even in the form of rumours have ever been reported by any source about human rights violations by CSP-PSD forces,” an alliance of armed groups, they continued.

They denounce “a clumsy maneuver to ignore all the massacres perpetrated” by the Malian armed forces and their allies of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, whose junta denies the presence.

The Malian army claimed to have discovered this mass grave on 16 November during security operations. This mass grave recalls the atrocities committed by terrorists without faith or law,” the army said, without further details.

After eight years of calm, hostilities resumed in August in northern Mali between regular forces and separatists.

The withdrawal of the UN Mission, pushed towards the exit by the junta in power, triggered a race for control of the territory, the central authorities demanding the return of the camps, the rebels opposing it.

The takeover in mid-November by the army of Kidal, bastion of the independence claim, is a symbolic success for the colonels who took power by force in 2020.

In the shadow of the fighting on the ground, the two sides also clash on social networks, including X (ex-Twitter), TikTok and Facebook, through support accounts, many of which have been created recently, against a background of misinformation.

“Each side gives its version of what is happening on the ground and discredits that of the opponent it presents as propaganda,” Seidik Abba, a Nigerian journalist and political analyst specializing in the Sahel, told AFP recently.

The ruling junta broke the historic military partnership with France and its European allies to turn to Russia and urged the UN mission to leave.

After the departure of French troops from the Gossi base in central Mali, the Malian army also announced that it had discovered “a mass grave” in 2022. The French army had immediately denounced a manipulation, and broadcast drone images showing, according to it, Russian mercenaries burying bodies a few days earlier.

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