- Title: MALI: Mali still waiting for ECOWAS troops
- Date: 16th January 2013
- Summary: BAMAKO, MALI (JANUARY 16, 2013) (REUTERS) BUILDING WHERE ECOWAS MILITARY CHIEFS MEETING TAKES PLACE VARIOUS OF MILITARY CHIEFS FROM WEST AFRICA IN MEETING MALI MAP GENERAL IBRAHIM DEMBELE, MALIAN ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (French) IBRAHIM DEMBELE, MALIAN ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, SAYING: "The difficulties we are having are logistics and more than that, sites where different teams can stay, as they will be moving on transit areas before engaging on the ground, which should happen very soon, in the next 48 hours." JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) IBRAHIM DEMBELE, MALIAN ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, SAYING: "The situation on the ground is catastrophic, but with the French army intervention and particularly the aerial support, it has calmed down a little. That allows us to keep a certain calm on the ground and with the help from France the Malian army is reorganizing itself and preparing for the offensive." 8, MORE OF MEETING VENUE VARIOUS OF GENERALS IN MEETING GHANA GENERAL BLAYE ARRIVING IN MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL BLAYE, GHANA ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, SAYING: "We came here as ECOWAS to pull our resources together to assist Mali and resolve the crisis and therefore our purpose is to find a way out." EXTERIOR OF BUILDING
- Embargoed: 31st January 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mali
- Country: Mali
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVADLC2NGS6EIO6PPU5WBTYKW9SF
- Story Text: Military chiefs from the West African regional bloc struggle with logistical problems before they can send troops to Mali.
West African troops could begin deploying in Mali within the next 48 hours, Malian army chief Ibrahim Dembele said on Wednesday (January 16) on the fringe of an ECOWAS meeting in Bamako.
Dembele said all the efforts are being spent to overcome logistic and technical problems so African troops can start arriving in Mali to support the war effort to dislodge Islamist rebels from the country's north.
French ground troops and Malian army forces encircled Islamist fighters in the central Malian town of Diabaly on Wednesday, military sources said, as France prepared to launch its first ground assault on the rebels.
"The difficulties we are having are logistics and more than that, sites where different teams can stay, as they will be moving on transit areas before engaging on the ground, which should happen very soon, in the next 48 hours," Dembele said.
Anorther military source at the ECOWAS meeting said Niger and Nigeria are ready to send in their troops overland, whilst other countries will pace them in over the next week.
"The situation on the ground is catastrophic, but with the French army intervention and particularly the aerial support, it has calmed down a little. That allows us to keep a certain calm on the ground and with the help from France the Malian army is reorganizing itself and preparing for the offensive," Dembele said.
France, which has warned that Islamists' seizure of Mali's desert north last year represented a threat to the security of the West, moved a column of armoured vehicles on Tuesday into position at the nearby town of Niono, some 300 km (190 miles) from the riverside capital Bamako. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None