the rotations of the contingents of the UN mission will resume

by time news

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The rotations of the contingents of the UN Mission in Mali (Minusma), suspended for a month, will resume on Monday with a new approval mechanism in a context of diplomatic tensions between Bamako and its partners, a spokesperson said on Saturday. of the mission.

Troop rotations for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali will resume on Monday, a mission spokesman said Saturday (August 13th), a month after Malian authorities suspended them and charged foreign soldiers of entering the country without permission.

Mali’s ruling junta suspended troop rotations for the nearly 12,000-strong mission on July 14 after arresting 49 Ivorian soldiers it said had arrived in the country without permission. Côte d’Ivoire has denied these allegations.

She said rotations would resume after discussions with representatives of the mission, known as Minusma, on how to coordinate troop deployments.

>> To read – Mali: Minusma, the United Nations mission on the brink of rupture

Simplified rotation procedure

The July arrests highlighted friction between the junta, which seized power in a coup in August 2020, and international partners, who criticized the postponement of elections and security cooperation with Russian mercenaries.

Ivory Coast says the soldiers were deployed under a support agreement signed with Minusma, created in 2013 to provide security against Islamist rebels. The Ivorian soldiers are still in detention.

A Minusma spokesperson said the mission and Malian authorities had agreed on a simplified rotation procedure and that the mission’s request to resume rotations on Monday had been accepted.

Mali’s foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.

Relations between Mali and countries providing military aid remain tense. On Friday, Germany said it was suspending its military reconnaissance mission, which provides intelligence to Minusma, after Malian authorities refused a flight permit.

The Malian foreign minister denied on Twitter that the government had done so and called on Germany to join the new mechanism for approving troop rotations.

With Reuters

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