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Mali Prime Minister Ousted; Had Sought Rapid International Intervention
12 December 2012
(EIRNS)—Mali’s Interim Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was removed from office this morning just hours after he was detained by soldiers who organized the March coup. He, along with France, had been a strong advocate of the rapid creation and intervention of an international military force against the Salafist jihadis who took over northern Mali after the March coup, and then turned the region into a haven for the Qatar- and Saudi-backed rebels. Prime Minister Diarra’s political demise came the day after U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council. "Northern Mali ... [is] one of the potentially most explosive corners of the world." At the U.N. Security Council, France has circulated a draft proposal to approve a rapid intervention. But, according to African accounts, France and the UN are being held up by the United States, which has countered with a proposal that the intervention be split into two missions: one political, involving negotiations with the rebels, and the other military — each to be mandated separately by the UNSC. The U.S.A. is highly skeptical about the proposed French approach, according to diplomatic sources in the media. The reports indicate that this will take a long time to resolve, slowing the intervention. Neither the Obama administration nor France has a viable solution to deal with the root causes of the problem, which was unleashed after the Qaddafi regime in Libya was toppled. [DDG] |