West African bloc calls for international support in Mali

West Africa’s main political bloc has called for more international support as it prepares to join the French intervention in Mali. Paris has said that African troops must lead the fight against the rebels.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held an emergency meeting in Ivory Coast to hammer out the final details of a planned intervention to oust militants from northern Mali,according to D.W.

So far, only 100 soldiers from the planned 5,800-strong African force have reached Mali’s capital, Bamako. France, which launched an UN-backed unilateral intervention in Mali last week, currently has 2,000 troops on the ground. Paris has indicated that its deployment could rise to 2,500, but has said that regional forces must ultimately take the lead.

The African force was originally scheduled to deploy to Mali no earlier than September. But the rapid advance by Islamist forces has brought the crisis in Mali to a head, forcing ECOWAS to rapidly finalize its plans for an intervention.

ECOWAS President Kadre Desire Ouedraogo warned, however, that the bloc could not fund an intervention on its own. He said that some ECOWAS members “had failed to pay their financial contributions.”

“Due to financial shortfalls ECOWAS is currently facing, we cannot alone support the African military operation in Mali,” Ouedraogo said.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, the current chairman of ECOWAS, called on the international community to support the bloc’s efforts.

Malian sources have said that the city has been retaken by government forces, but French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has denied these reports.

In Germany, the head of parliament has caused a political stir by suggesting that Berlin may have to contribute more to support its French ally in Mali. So far, Germany has sent two Transall transport aircraft to help ferry ECOWAS troops and supplies but only to the capital Bamako, and not deeper within Mali.

R.S