A senior official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the deployment of an African-led military force to Mali is only a matter of weeks, probably by the end of November or early December, once a final authorization has been made by the UN Security Council.
Abdel Fatau Musah, ECOWAS director for external relations, said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to take into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.
His comments followed the adoption by the African Union last week of a strategic concept for military intervention and they also come as all stakeholders in the Mali crisis begin a two-day meeting in Bamako Tuesday, October 30th.
Musah said the purpose of the meeting is for all the stakeholders to harmonize the different proposals about military intervention in Mali.
“We all agreed, based on the ECOWAS proposal, that all the parties, including the government of Mali, the African Union, ECOWAS, bilateral and multilateral partners, neighboring countries, including Algeria and Mauritania agreed to assembly in Bamako in Mali from the 30th of October to the first of November to finalize the concept of operation based on the draft concept that has been developed by the ECOWAS chiefs of Defense staff,” he said.
Musah said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to accommodate the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.
Abdel Fatau Musah, ECOWAS director for external relations, said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to take into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.
His comments followed the adoption by the African Union last week of a strategic concept for military intervention and they also come as all stakeholders in the Mali crisis begin a two-day meeting in Bamako Tuesday, October 30th.
Musah said the purpose of the meeting is for all the stakeholders to harmonize the different proposals about military intervention in Mali.
“We all agreed, based on the ECOWAS proposal, that all the parties, including the government of Mali, the African Union, ECOWAS, bilateral and multilateral partners, neighboring countries, including Algeria and Mauritania agreed to assembly in Bamako in Mali from the 30th of October to the first of November to finalize the concept of operation based on the draft concept that has been developed by the ECOWAS chiefs of Defense staff,” he said.
Musah said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to accommodate the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.
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