UN peacekeeping chief briefs Security Council on peace process in Mali


(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) Progress in the political process in Mali over the last three months has been "fairly modest", with fighting continuing despite talks in Algiers that marked the first occasion when armed groups and the Government engaged in direct conversations, the head of United Nations peacekeeping operations said in a briefing to the Security Council.

"We can say that the inter-Malian peace process is at a crucial stage," said the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, making an appeal to all parties to resolve outstanding issues in the fresh round of talks scheduled for February.

"This appeal is to everyone. There needs to be a decisive spirit here. There needs to be leadership. And there must be a willingness to compromise to reach an agreement. No one should fear that," he said.

While talks held so far had resulted in a draft peace agreement that all parties were currently examining, he pointed to an "extremely volatile" security situation in the North of the country, with "serious fighting" taking place in recent days, including an attack on Malian troops in the Segou region, where 10 were killed, and disturbances in Gao where three were killed.

"The situation on the ground remains difficult, each side trying to escalate," he said, pointing out that MINUSMA forces had been deployed in response to the violence, facing a situation that was "very dire and costly" for MINUSMA's troops.

"No mission has been as costly in terms of blood," he said, noting that a total of 33 MINUSMA soldiers had been killed and 109 injured and pointing out that the mission's peacekeepers face assaults on a virtually daily basis, in the form of rocket attacks on bases and targeted attacks with improvised explosive devices.

He called on all parties to respect the ceasefire and to show good faith, both on the ground and at the negotiating table in Algiers. That required some parties to accept the need to move from their opening positions, something not everybody had done.


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