IBK meets with under-secretary of state for political affairs
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The US Under-secretary of state for political affairs, David Hale, was received here Thursday by Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, official sources told PANA in the capital.
The sources said Hale, who is on tour of West Africa, would focus on strengthening regional partnerships for peace and security.
President Kéita and his host discussed the issues at a meeting attended by the director general of political and security affairs of the French ministry of foreign affairs, Philippe Errera, and three members of the Malian government.
They also discussed efforts to speed up the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement resulting from the Algiers process, the organization of the next legislative elections and efforts made to improve the security situation.
At the end of the meeting, the under-secretary of state reiterated his country's support for Mali in the implementation of the agreement, while welcoming the progress made, thanks to the commitment of the government and other stakeholders.
He also expressed the support of his country for Mali for a successful organization of the next legislative elections which he wished would be "transparent and credible".
The US authorities are also "ready to help Mali in the fight against terrorism", said Hale, while stressing the importance of working to "improve relations between the military and civilians to preserve human rights”.
The US official stressed the vital role France played in Mali and insisted on the urgency of "renewing our efforts" to achieve the objectives set in the fight against terrorism.
Errera stressed that this meeting with the president of Mali was part of the Pau summit which brought together, on January 13, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the heads of state of member-countries of the G5 Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad) to discuss the security situation in the Sahel, which was deteriorating despite the presence of French forces Barkane, and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
"By this joint meeting, we wanted to make a very precise inventory of the implementation of the criteria of resolution 2480 of the Security Council and the commitments of Pau which have for common objective the implementation of the Agreement for peace," said Errera.
He said his country encouraged the Malian government and all parties to the Mali Peace and Reconciliation Agreement to continue their efforts, noting that "there is still an important path to take in the coming weeks with in perspective the follow-up meetings to the Pau Summit and the renewal of the mandate of the MINUSMA.
The peace and reconciliation agreement, resulting from the Algiers process, was signed in May-June 2015 between the Malian government, armed groups from the North and the international community, with a view to reaching a final peace in Mali, after a series of Tuareg rebellions exacerbated in recent years by jihadist attacks in the north, center and even in the south of the country.
-0- PANA GT/JSG/SOC/KND/RA 7Feb2020
