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| Africa North |
| U.N. Votes to Send Peacekeepers to Mali |
| 2013-04-26 |
| [An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council on Thursday unanimously agreed to send a 12,600-member international force to Mali to take over from French and African troops battling Islamist guerrillas. The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... is aiming for a July 1 start by the new force, but the 15-nation council will decide later whether the conflict has eased enough for the handover. "We know its going to be a fairly volatile environment," U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told news hounds after the vote. Mali called French troops into the country in January to halt an Islamist advance on the capital Bamako. French and African troops have since pushed the al-Qaeda-linked Death Eaters into desert and mountain hideouts, from where they are now staging guerrilla attacks. La Belle France is winding down its force from its peak of nearly 4,500 but is to keep up to 1,000 troops in Mali and they will maintain responsibility for military strikes against the Islamists. |
| Posted by:Fred |