Rabat, Morocco – Member countries of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) have said ‘the resolution of the crisis in Mali must be comprehensive and should not be limited to military operation,’ the Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed Abdel Aziz, has said.
Aziz, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the AMU, told a press conference Sunday, at the end of the 31st Council of Foreign Ministers of the AMU in Rabat, Morocco, that it was important for the international community to be prepared to cope with post-war conditions in northern Mali.
‘The United Nations peace mission in Mali should not be a simple peacekeeping task. It should consider further involvement in resolving the crisis, in collaboration with ECOWAS, giving room to the non-military option,’ said Aziz.
The AMU said the support mission in Mali, in addition to its peacekeeping role, should be involved in rebuilding the Malian government and the democratic transition through the organization of free and credible elections.
In his reaction, the Mauritanian Foreign Minister Hamadi Ould Hamadi, noted that the AMU foreign ministers’ meeting should ensure that unity and stability are guaranteed in Mali after the crisis.
He said that Mali was going through crises primarily because certain tribal minorities and terrorist, represented by armed militia, were bent on settling in the northern part of the country.
Hamadi said the resurgence of organized crime, trafficking in drugs, weapons and hostage taking were some of the challenges facing Mali, adding that the west African country was also experiencing a humanitarian crisis with the influx of thousands of refugees.
Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya and Tunisia are members of UMA, which was founded in 1989.
