Nigeria Threatens Military Action In Mali, If…

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will
definitely intervene militarily but, first and foremost, “we are negotiating”,
President Goodluck Jonathan, who was on a 24-hour visit to Senegal, said after
talks with Senegalese President, Macky Sall.

He said regional leaders were focusing on stabilising an
interim government in Bamako, which was shaken up on Monday to form a wider
unity government after a March 22 coup plunged the nation into crisis.

The option of a military intervention from a 3,300-strong
ECOWAS standby force has been on the table for months but “very little” has
been done to implement this, Mali’s Defence Minister, Yamoussa Camara admitted
recently.

ECOWAS ordered interim authorities to form the unity
government in the hopes it would be better able to deal with the country’s
crises, and make an official request for military back-up from the regional
troops.

Mali’s Army Chief of Staff, Ibrahima Dembele has said the
Malian Army – which is sorely in need of training and equipment – will play the
lead role in ejecting the jihadists.

“No one will fight this war in place of Mali, but the others
will provide support, above all in the air and in logistics,” he said on
Tuesday.

The UN has asked for more information on the size, means and
plans of the proposed force before granting it a mandate.

The newly formed government has said winning back the north
is its top priority and ECOWAS on Wednesday urged it to swiftly organise
elections and re-establish “territorial integrity”.

Once one of the region’s most stable democracies, Mali has
been gripped by turmoil since democratically elected President, Amadou Toumani
Toure was overthrown by the military in March.

The ensuing political chaos allowed al-Qaeda-linked Islamist
rebels to seize control of the vast desert north, an area larger than France or
Texas, where they have enforced strict Sharia law.