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Mauritania Warns of Fallout from Mali Crisis
[An Nahar] Mauritania warned Monday that the fallout from a military strike against the Islamist faceless myrmidons controlling northern Mali could be devastating and affect the troubled country's neighbors.

"This country which has for a long time been seen as a model of democracy is like a volcano about to erupt," national assembly president Messaoud Ould Boulkheir said a day after West African leaders gave the green light to sending 3,300 troops to northern Mali to wrest control from the Islamists.

"If this volcano awakens, it will dump incandescent ashes over its neighbors," he told parliament.

"As we share a common border and since the interests of our peoples are closely interwoven, our country cannot just stand by," he added.

Following Sunday's summit of West African leaders in the Nigerian capital Abuja, experts cautioned that military intervention would still be months away.

Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met at the summit to set out a blueprint for military action in Mali's north, but would not rule out dialogue to resolve the crisis -- even though they said force might be necessary given the turban threat.

Posted by: Fred 2012-11-13
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=355946