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African leaders call for Mali intervention
[Magharebia] The African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
(AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on Monday (December 17th) for deploying an African force "without delay" to expel armed Islamist groups that control northern Mali.

"We have to focus on the need to send an international force without delay to put an end to the terrorist danger that is threatening peace in our region," Benin president and AU chairperson Thomas Boni Yayi said.

The AU chief made the remarks in Niamey at the opening of the summit of the Conseil de l'Entente (Council of the Accord), a regional co-operation body that includes Benin, Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now...
, Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo.

In his turn, Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou repeated his request for the UN Security Council to adopt an urgent resolution to be the legitimate umbrella that would enable Africans to combat hard boyz in Mali.

"I reiterate our call to the Security Council to authorise the dispatch of an international force as soon as possible to help liberate northern Mali. Sending this force has even become an urgent thing for everyone," he said.

"Our region is facing unprecedented threats, such as terrorism and organised crime, which work together to create a condition that can explode anytime, in which case none of our countries will be spared," Issoufou said.

Analyst Mohamed Ag Ahmedu said that the African leaders' urgent statements and their desire to wage a quick war came as an implied response to the position of UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, who warned in late November of the consequences of any unplanned military intervention in the region.

"This has disturbed the African leaders who felt that these statements are underestimating their months-long efforts and co-ordination," the analyst added.

Malian journalist Moussa Coulibaly said that the African leaders' calls were expected as part of efforts to find a way out of this state of ambiguity, slow action and contradictory statements.

"It's about time the world realised that any minute lost in dates, delays and hesitation will further consolidate the armed terrorist groups' force," he said.

Posted by: Fred 2012-12-19
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=358316