Europe Sees Hope for Eventual Deal in Mali

By Jeff Seldin

A key European diplomat believes there is still a chance to defuse the growing political crisis in Mali that has seen the country’s interim military government clash repeatedly in recent days with both its neighbors and members of the international community.

Emanuela Del Re, the European Union’s special representative for the Sahel, criticized Mali’s current rulers for provoking countries in the region and Europe by postponing elections for five years and for bringing in Russian mercenaries to help with security.

But in an interview Friday with VOA, Del Re said she thinks the coup leaders will eventually have no choice but to relent.

“I think that despite, of course, the fact that the government is so firm in saying that they want this long transition because probably they want to stay in power for a long time, the pressure will be so strong that at one point they will have to come to a compromise,” she said.

Del Re praised sanctions targeting Mali adopted earlier this week bythe Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the EU, describing them as coherent and consequential, and called on the international community to maintain the pressure on the interim government.

Brussels Meeting

At the same time, though, she and other European officials are continuing to talk to Malian officials and expect Mali to take part in a meeting scheduled for later this month in Brussels.

“The European Union wants to be coherent with this approach of the sanctions … it wants to be firm in this sense,” Del Re told VOA. “At the same time, it wants to also keep the doors open for negotiation.”

“I am sure that there will negotiations. There will be a dialogue,” she added.

Thousands of supporters of Mali’s military government took to the streets Friday in the capital,Bamako, railing against the ECOWAS sanctions as unjust.

“These illegal and illegitimate measures have three objectives: to destabilize the institutions, to destabilize the Malian army and to destabilize Mali,” Prime Minister Choguel Maiga told the crowd.

“But what they must not forget is that Mali is a lock, Mali is a dam. If Mali blows, and God help us, it will not blow, but if that happens, no one will have peace in ECOWAS,” he added.

Many of the protesters praised the military government for standing up to France, while others waived Malian flags and some even waived Russian flags.

The presence of Russian flags is likely to increase concern in the West, with European countries and the United States repeatedly warning the military government against bringing in mercenaries from the Wagner Group, a paramilitary company with ties to the Kremlin.

“We have seen what they have done in the Central African Republic, the predatory behavior and the violations of human rights, so we have made clear that we are completely against their intervention in Mali,” a European official told reporters Friday, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject when asked about reports that several hundred mercenaries are now in Mali.

According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Mali’s military government has committed to paying Wagner $11 million per month – $132 million a year – for the services of 1,000 mercenaries, an amount equal to more than 20% of Mali’s yearly defense expenditures.

Mali’s government has denied reports it is using Russian mercenaries, but the move appears to be having an impact on other international forces sent to the country to help fight against terrorists linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida.

Sweden to Withdraw

Sweden’s foreign minister said Friday that her country will withdraw from the Takuba Task Force, a European special forces mission to Mali, and that it may withdraw a couple hundred troops serving in Mali under the United Nations.

“We now know that there is Wagner Group,” Sweden’s Ann Linde told reporters in Brest, France, following a meeting of EU foreign ministers. “If they have a stronger and stronger impact, then it will be not possible to continue with those large number of troops from us.”

Other European officials cautioned that additional troops could be pulled if the situation worsens and warned there could be regional implications.

“It cannot be accepted for its part for the risk of having a domino effect,” Del Re told VOA. “The countries of the region, the countries of the G-5, for instance, they fear that this could be an example that might somehow give the idea of copying the situation to other countries.”

Despite these complications, Del Re and other European officials insist they have no intention of abandoning Mali or its neighbors in the Sahel.

“What we are worried about very much is the population of Mali, because they are already in such a condition,” Del Re told VOA. They don’t deserve this situation.”

Annie Risemberg contributed to this report from Bamako.

VOA

In Tibet, Parents Plead for Children to Help Collect Caterpillar Fungus

It’s caterpillar fungus harvesting season in Tibet, and parents have staged protests urging Chinese authorities to let their children leave a residential boarding school to help collect the rare ingredient used in traditional medicine, two sources inside the region said.

Read More

Vietnamese Monk Seeks Justice for Brother Who Died after Police Interrogation

In March 2015, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported that from October 2011 to September 2014, there were 226 deaths in detention facilities nationwide. The Ministry of Public Security explained them as being due to illness and suicide. Since then, no further reports have been issued.

Read More

Hamas Reviews Israeli Cease-Fire Plan in Gaza

Israel has proposed a cease-fire plan for Gaza, which Hamas says it is reviewing. This follows after an Egyptian delegation visited Israel, during which officials described a “new vision” for a prolonged end of hostilities.

Read More

Taxi System Powered by Electric Cars Developed by Nigerian Company

The need for sustainable solutions becomes more pressing as climate change wreaks havoc around the world. In Nigeria, a private company recently introduced an Uber-style taxi system made of approximately 200 electric vehicles.

Read More

Myanmar Junta Attack on Hospital Kills 4, Many Injured

A Myanmar junta airstrike on a hospital in the west of the country has killed four people, including patients and staff, and wounded 15, a rebel group told Radio Free Asia on Friday. 

Read More

To Tackle Militant Attacks,Nigeria Considers Introduction of State Police Across the Country

As part of measures to tackle the militant attacks, mass kidnappings, and banditry activities that have plagued the nation, Nigeria is considering establishing state police throughout all 36 of its states. The violence has overwhelmed the country’s police force, which numbers over 300,000 members.The state police are an addition to this force. Nigerians cautiously welcome the move.

Read More

2 Decades on, Families of Tak Bai Incident Victims Seek Justice

Nearly two decades after the Tak Bai Incident where over 80 people died in Thailand’s insurgency-stricken southern border region, the victims’ families filed a lawsuit on Thursday against government officials allegedly involved in the deaths. 

Read More

On US University Campuses, Pro-Palestinian Protests Spread

Pro-Palestinian protests take place on college campuses across the country every day. Students are protesting against the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and demanding that humanitarian aid be allowed to flow into the territory.It seems that the protests are not dying down while several students and demonstrators have been suspended or detained.

Read More