Mali's government appears to be reluctant to allow the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in the country after the active phase of the ongoing French-led military operations against Islamist rebels concludes, according to a senior UN official.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told reporters that the United Nations has not received a "clear green light from the government of Mali yet for a peacekeeping operation." Nevertheless, he noted that other nations were increasingly in favor of deploying a UN peacekeeping forces in the African nation.
"The trend is very much in the direction that we should move into that phase [establishment] of a UN peacekeeping force in Mali. But, of course, this phase would occur only when the combat phase is over," he said.
The UN official also stressed on the urgent need for easing of tensions between the Tuareg rebels and Mali's federal government, and expressed hopes that the north of the African country would continue to be part of a unified Mali.
"That would have legitimacy and would hopefully live up to the norms of human rights that we have seen so gravely violated recently," Eliasson added.
A coalition of French and Malian troops have already recaptured almost all urban areas in northern Mali from Islamist rebels, including including Timbuktu, Gao, Konna, Diabaly and Douentza. The coalition force is now focusing on tracking down the remaining Islamist rebels holed up in desert hideouts in the north.
Kidal is the only major northern town that is not under the control of French and Malian forces. Although French troops are in control of Kidal airport, Tuareg rebels who want to carve out their own homeland in northern Mali, still controls rest of the town.
Several nations, including the United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Denmark and Italy, have been providing logistical military assistance to the French mission in Mali without getting directly involved in the conflict.
Currently, there are nearly 4,000 French soldiers in Mali, a former French colony. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had said last week that his government plans to hand over control of the military operations in Mali to an African-led force as soon as possible. He insisted that France does not intend to keep its military presence in Mali for long.
At present, a 2,000-strong African force, mainly from Nigeria and Senegal, is in Mali to assist the French and Malian troops. The strength of the regional force is expected to be raised to 7,900 in the coming days, with several other West African nations like Chad, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso and Togo pledging to contribute to the UNSC-authorized mission. The African force would form the bulk of the proposed UN peacekeeping forces once the UNSC as well as the Malian government approves its deployment.
Earlier, Islamist militants and Mali's Tuareg rebels captured most of the country's northern region in April 2012 amid chaos triggered by a military coup. Nonetheless, their alliance quickly collapsed after the Islamists marginalized the Tuareg rebels and began enforcing strict Islamic laws across the region. According to the UN, the continued conflict as well as drought and political instability have forced more than 412,000 people to flee northern Mali in recent months.
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