Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdoulaye Diop on Tuesday appealed for international intervention in Libya to combat the spread of terrorism in the Sahel region of Africa and to restore a central government.
“As long as a solution is not found to the Libyan crisis, almost everything that we are doing in Mali and throughout the Sahel, more broadly speaking, will continue to be threatened,” Diop told the UN Security Council.
Widespread militia violence has plunged Libya into chaos less than four years after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
The internationally recognized government was forced to the city of Tobruk after militias seized the capital, Tripoli, over the summer last year and set up a rival government.
Diop reiterated an appeal from leaders of Sahel communities for the Security Council and the African Union to set up an international force “to neutralize the armed groups,” but also to promote national reconciliation and set up stable institutions.
He highlighted the link between the onset of a crisis in Mali in 2012 and the civil war in Libya, which resulted in many Malians who were part of the Libyan army returning home with arms and ammunition which destabilized the nation.
Northern Mali fell under the control of ethnic Tuareg separatists and Muslim extremists after a military coup in 2012. A French-led intervention in 2013 scattered the extremists, but new bursts of violence have erupted.
In Libya, the situation is compounded by terrorists in the south who have declared allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group, “which is a source of great concern to all of us,” Diop said.
“Unless we help the Libyans to have a state structure, to have a security apparatus which is able to control these terrorist organizations, it will be just an illusion to think that we can have security and stability in the Sahel,” he said.
UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous told the council that the security situation in northern Mali remains “extremely volatile” and “very dire,” with almost daily attacks.
Since July 2013, when the UN took over peacekeeping in Mali from an African-led force, 33 peacekeepers have died and 109 have been injured, Ladsous said, adding: “No other mission in contemporary times has been so costly in terms of bloodshed.”
Diop said Mali’s president is committed to achieving a peace agreement “that would be lasting and comprehensive.”
Diop repeated his call for an intervention brigade, like the one established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with robust rules of engagement and resources to fight extremists in Mali.
Malian, French and UN forces are working to tackle the terrorist threat, while Algeria and Niger are securing their borders, he said
“The weak link remains... Libya, where something needs to be done,” Diop said.
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