UN Security Council delegates, led by the ambassadors from the US, France and Niger, arrived in Bamako for two days of talks to push the military-led interim government for a return to democracy after two coups in nine months.
The delegation adds to international pressure on coup leaders to abide by a February 27 deadline set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for a presidential election, a deadline that the regime is openly suggesting might be missed.
Kenya’s ambassador to the UN, Martin Kimani said it would be ideal for them to have a better understanding of the situation in Mali in order to know how best to help.
Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation AbdoulayeDiop welcomed the delegation adding that the meeting would help to give a progress report by the government.
In a statement released on Friday Human Right Watch had urged the UN mission to use this as an oppourtunity to encourage Malian authorities to “investigate a spate of alleged summary executions, enforced disappearances, and detentions by government security forces”.
Military intervention by France and the UN has failed to quell an Islamist insurgency that has swept into central Mali and spilled over into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger, leaving thousands dead and forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.
