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The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, is to resume contingent rotations from Monday under fresh approval measures, the Malian foreign minister and a UN spokeswoman have said. online news
“MINUSMA agreed to the new procedures and communicated them to all countries contributing troops. There will be no exception,” Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said Saturday, after the Sahel state suspended the rotations last month over “national security” reasons.
The peacekeeping force’s spokeswoman Myriam Dessables confirmed the news and said: “Rotations are to resume from Monday.”
The announcement came after Germany said Friday it had stopped reconnaissance operations and helicopter transport flights in Mali until further notice after Bamako denied flyover rights to MINUSMA.
Those rights were refused despite assurances to the contrary from the Malian Defence Minister Sadio Camara in a call with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht Thursday, the German defence ministry spokesman said.
Diop said the various contingents previously had to seek approval directly from the Malian authorities.
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But now “all requests must go via MINUSMA, who will then pass them on to the foreign ministry”, the minister said.
The July 14 suspension of rotations came four days after Mali arrested 49 Ivorian soldiers it later described as “mercenaries” intent on toppling the country’s military-led government.
Ivory Coast said the troops had been sent to provide backup to MINUSMA.
The peacekeeping mission acknowledged there had been “dysfunctions” in deploying the Ivorian troops.
Mali has been ruled by a military junta since 2020.
The junta has turned away from France and toward Russia in its fight against a 10-year jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
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Germany Suspends Military Operations in Mali
The German defence ministry said Friday it had suspended most of its operations in Mali after the local military-led government denied flyover rights to a UN peacekeeping mission.
“The Malian government has once again refused to give flyover rights to a flight planned today” for the rotation of personnel on the ground, a ministry spokesman said at a regular press conference.
In response, Germany had decided to “suspend until further notice the operations of our reconnaissance forces and CH-53 (helicopter) transport flights”.
“It is no longer possible to support the MINUSMA reconnaissance missions on an operational basis,” the spokesman said.
Without the new troops, who were set to “replace French forces” in the process of withdrawing, “security on site is not assured” as the “remaining forces must be kept ready for security operations”.
The flyover rights were refused despite assurances to the contrary from the Malian Defence Minister Sadio Camara in a call with his German counterpart Christine Lambrecht Thursday, the spokesman said.
“Camara’s actions tell a different story than his words,” Lambrecht said in a statement posted by her ministry on Twitter.
The German move comes as Mali’s junta turned away from France and toward Russia in its fight against jihadism.
The long-running insurgency has claimed thousands of lives and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
The relationship between Bamako and Paris, its former colonial power and traditional ally, has deteriorated in recent months.
The arrival of Russian paramilitaries in the country on the invitation of the government was a key factor in France’s decision to pull its military forces out.
The withdrawal is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
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