UNSC delegation visits Mali, vows support for peace process

France's Permanent Representative to UNSC François Delattre (Pic: UN News Center)

Bamako (IINA) – A high-ranking delegation comprising all members of the UN Security Council was in Mali on Saturday, the first stop of its visit to the African continent, where it underlined that the 15-member body is united in supporting the country's peace and reconciliation efforts, according to UN News Center.
“We are here – the whole Council is here with its entire weight, with one voice, and with the same wish to see Mali reconciled, Malians united to build peace and to continue building the great country you have,” Ismael Abraão Gaspar Martins, the permanent representative of Angola and Security Council president for the month of March, told reporters here at a press conference.
“During this visit, we will meet with Malians, we will be close to them instead of just listening from afar and reading the reports. We will let them know directly that our main objective is to see the rebirth of Mali,” he added.
Echoing the Angolan ambassador's message was France's Permanent Representative François Delattre, who said the progress made by Mali during these past years has been “spectacular”. Building on this progress, he explained that the Security Council is putting all its weight on three items in particular. These include giving impulse to the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation, signed by the government, the Coordination of Movements of Azawad, and the Platform coalition of armed groups; fighting terrorism; and promotion of reconciliation.
The Malian government has been seeking to restore stability and rebuild, following a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup, renewed fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical extremists. The country has also been wracked by a series of humanitarian crises.
AB/IINA

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