Nato says no request on Mali role
2013-01-09 14:18
Brussels - Nato said on Wednesday there has been no request
or discussion about the military alliance helping West African forces to retake
control of northern Mali from Islamist guerrillas.
"There has been no request or discussion on a possible
role for Nato in Mali," said a Nato official who asked not to be named.
On Tuesday, the head of the African Union, Benin President
Thomas Boni Yayi, said "Nato should play a part and the African force
would lead the way as was done by Nato in Afghanistan".
The West African state of Mali has been cut in two since
early last year when Tuareg rebels seized cities in the arid north and east of
the country, sparking fears they could destabilise the whole region.
"Nato is not involved in this crisis but the situation
in northern Mali is of course of grave concern to us all. It threatens the
security and stability of the country, the region and beyond," the Nato
official said.
Nato welcomed last year's UN resolution on Mali and the
European Union's decision to plan a planning for a military training operation
for Mali armed forces, the official said.
"We are hopeful that the efforts of the international
community will help restore the rule of law in Mali," the official added.
Yayi, speaking on a visit to Ottawa with Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, said: "I think that Nato should add its forces to
our efforts so this could be an international mission."
Overnight Monday, Malian soldiers fired warning shots at
Islamist fighters near the town of Mopti, some 650km northeast of the capital
Bamako.
Mopti is the first major town south of the vast swathe of
desert which Islamist groups and Tuareg rebels seized after a coup in Bamako
last March.
One regional security source said he was "deeply
worried" and suspected the Islamists planned to head southwards into
government-held territory.
