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Plan for west African troops to recapture region from al-Qaida-linked insurgents is set to meet UN deadline, Mali says
West African troops are gearing up for a military intervention in Mali after the government said it will meet a United Nations security council deadline to begin recapturing the country's north from al-Qaida-linked insurgents.
The government said a plan for military action by its army and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) would be ready within 45 days. One senior security official told the Guardian he believed plans for the offensive would break the "vicious cycle" that has seen months of inaction and a rapidly worsening humanitarian situation in the north since rebels seized key towns following a 22 March coup.
"The government does not have one single representative in northern Mali, we have absolutely no control of the territory," the source said.
"But the UN security council has given 45 days to Ecowas and Mali to present a plan for military action to recapture the north and we are confident that this will be enough time.
"Resolving this crisis is a political issue and it is never easy to have a consensus on this kind of thing. It is even not easy to get troops from many countries together in a short time.
"The problem has been that Ecowas does not have the means to act without the international community's help, but the international community has hesitated, wanting Ecowas to take the lead. Now I think we have broken this deadlock."
The UN resolution followed months of negotiations between Ecowas, the African Union (AU) and Mali's unpopular transitional government, which took over from a military junta that toppled the previous civilian government in March and which is supposed to hold elections by 13 April next year. The resolution also called for assistance for Ecowas troops, imposed targeted sanctions against al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and supported a negotiation process with rebel groups.
On Tuesday the French defence minister said military action in Mali was imminent. "It's a matter of weeks; not months, weeks," Jean-Yves le Drian told France 2 television.
"A number of groups, hundreds of rebels, fundamentalists and those involved in trafficking arms, drugs and humans" had "sliced Mali in two", he said, describing the arid north as "a terrorist sanctuary".
France and other foreign powers, including the European Union and the Africa Command, which co-ordinates US military activity in Africa, have been keen to downplay the question of any direct use of their forces in Mali, stressing instead logistical assistance.
On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed to support Mali's struggling army, which one official described as "poorly trained, badly equipped and poorly disciplined".
Their meeting preceded that of the Support and Follow-up Group on Mali – made up of the AU, UN and Ecowas – to flesh out a political and military strategy to end the crisis.
However if Mali meets the 45-day deadline, a second UN resolution is required before troops can be deployed.
Experts say questions remain about the role of non-Ecowas neighbouring countries, especially Mauritania, which has launched its own military intervention against al-Qaida, and Algeria, which is becoming a focal point for tackling instability in Mali and whose 800 mile desert border with Mali is seen as a major route for rebels smuggling weapons and resources into the country. Both countries held talks recently with the Africa Command head, General Carter Ham, to discuss military intervention.
"Algeria thinks of the Malian Sahara in the way that Pakistan thinks of Afghanistan – as their backyard," said Gregory Mann, an expert on Mali from Columbia University, New York. "They are not going to accept being marginalised in discussions, but questions still remain as to whether Algeria will give covert backing to an intervention."
Reports of atrocities continue to come from the north, which was initially seized by Tuareg rebels but is now in the control of Islamic extremists from foreign countries who have imposed sharia law. About a third of the area's population has fled and there are about 100,000 refugees in Burkina Faso, 100,000 in Mauritania, 30,000 in Algeria and 40,000 in Niger.
Last week a senior UN official reported that rebels were paying families around $600 (£370) to enlist their children to fight and build improvised explosive devices, and that forced marriages were taking place in return for cash.
"Human rights violations are becoming more systematic, relating to the takeover of the radical Islamists," said the UN assistant secretary general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic. "They have now imposed an extremist version of sharia, so the population is suffering a number of human rights violations, particularly targeted at women."
The security council has called for an immediate end to targeted attacks on civilians, sexual violence, the recruitment of child soldiers and forced displacements.