. Africa News .




AFRICA NEWS
New Mali PM has 'respect' of US
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 12, 2012


The United States on Wednesday described the new prime minister of Mali as a man respected by US officials and urged him to move swiftly to form a new government to lead the troubled country.

Diango Cissoko was appointed prime minister by the west African nation's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, just hours after Cheick Modibo Diarra quit as premier under pressure Tuesday from former putchists.

"Django Cissoko... is somebody that we know and we respect, and we want to see him now form a government that can provide political leadership going towards an election in the spring, or as soon as we can get there," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

But she reiterated that Washington continued to have concerns about what former coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo "is up to, and we think that he and his forces need to be marginalized so that we can have real security both in Bamako and moving north."

Interim authorities in Bamako have remained deadlocked and powerless in the wake of the occupation of northern and eastyerm Mali by Al-Qaeda linked extremists who piggybacked on a Tuareg rebellion that kicked off in January.

A March coup by frustrated soldiers did not fail to stop the rebel advance, and Islamists seized the vast but mostly arid north in a matter of days, later chasing out their Tuareg allies.

The United States and allies have been hammering out plans for a UN-mandated African-led force to be deployed in northern Mali to root out Islamist militias which have unleashed a reign of terror on the region.

But differences have flared over how and when to deploy the force, with US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice reportedly clashing sharply with France over a plan put forward by the African Union.

Nuland stressed Washington wanted "a draft that is going to hold up" and produce results, adding "we're very much in consultations with our partners. We're working it through with the French now, as allies do."

One of differences appeared to be over whether to deploy troops straight away in northern Mali, or whether it should happen in two stages to allow some training of the forces first.

"We want to ensure that once we get to UN Security Council action that we're going to end up with a force that can do what it's mandated to do, can really provide security on the ground, can meet the needs, can help Malian forces go north," Nuland said. "So these things have to be worked through carefully."

Rice told reporters at the United Nations the United States wanted "the swiftest possible restoration of democratic government in Bamako" and was committed to ensuring there was "not an enduring safe haven for terrorists in the north of Mali."

She said the UN Security Council was working on a resolution to "address in particular the challenge of restoring sovereignty and territorial integrity and ridding terrorists from the north of Mali."

.


Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Get Our Free Newsletters
Space - Defense - Environment - Energy - Solar - Nuclear

...







AFRICA NEWS
New Mali PM crafts unity government to win back north
Bamako (AFP) Dec 12, 2012
Mali's new Prime Minister Diango Cissoko started drawing up a new unity government Wednesday that could bring the consensus needed to launch a foreign military intervention in the Islamist-occupied north. While Cissoko pledged to regain control of the country's north, international condemnation poured in over the ouster of his predecessor Cheick Modibo Diarra and meddling by a former junta s ... read more


AFRICA NEWS
Antibiotic-eating bug unearthed in soil

Quantifying corn rootworm damage

Supporting Climate-Friendly Food Production

Dead or alive? A new test to determine viability of soybean rust spores

AFRICA NEWS
Will climate change cause water conflict?

Fish have enormous nutrient impacts on marine ecosystems

Scary news for corals - from the Ice Age

Advance in chromosomal evolution in sea cradles

AFRICA NEWS
The dark side of kerosene lamps: High black carbon emissions

Climate modelers see possible warmer, wetter Northeast winters by 2070

Conservatives can be persuaded to care more about the environment

Drought in the Horn of Africa delays migrating birds

AFRICA NEWS
Bolivia's eco-friendly trans-oceanic ships

Renewables Provide 46 percent All New US Electrical Generating Capacity in 2012

OpenADR Continues to Move the Smart Grid Forward

California's Energy Future: Buildings and Industrial Efficiency

AFRICA NEWS
Can Algae-Derived Oils Support Large-Scale, Low-Cost Biofuels Production?

Plastic packaging industry is moving towards completely bio-based products

Gases from Grasses

Garbage bug may help lower the cost of biofuel

AFRICA NEWS
Great balls of China to defend against 'apocalypse'

Apocalypse... but not as we know it

Thirteen killed in S.Africa bridge collapse

Fire, flood or giant calabash... pick your apocalypse

AFRICA NEWS
Onion soaks up heavy metal

Toxic cloud in Buenos Aires under control

Peru industrial pollution feeds conflict

China aims to reduce air pollution

AFRICA NEWS
Australia's resources, boom or bust?

IMF warns Hong Kong property faces price correction

Chinese strikers weighing legal steps in Singapore

Chinese cities becoming too costly for expats: survey




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement