UN to military intervention in Mali

The UN Security Council said it will consider a request from West African countries for military intervention in Mali to root out al-Qaida-linked Islamists who have seized control of the country's northern region.

UN to military intervention in Mali

The UN Security Council said it will consider a request from West African countries for military intervention in Mali to root out al-Qaida-linked Islamists who have seized control of the country's northern region.

The Economic Community of West African States, known as Ecowas, has planned the force for months but had been told by the Security Council that it had to wait for a formal request from Mali's interim government before submitting a proposal.

Mali's request - initially opposed by the leaders of a March coup who retain considerable influence - finally came September 1.

The Security Council urged Ecowas to prepare a "feasible" plan with "detailed options" for a force.

The council also called on the bloc to co-ordinate the plan with other African nations and the European Union.

World leaders will meet next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss the intervention force and the security and humanitarian situation in northern Mali, which the council warned is getting worse.

Mali's request for assistance includes aerial support and five battalions, or about 3,000 troops, to help recover the northern territory that it lost in the chaos that followed the coup.

Islamists and Tuareg rebels initially seized pieces of the region, but the Islamists later overtook the Tuaregs and gained control.

With Islamists moving closer to government-held territory in central Mali, the Security Council said terrorist elements like al Qaida in Islamic Maghreb have become more entrenched. The council demanded that all rebel groups cut ties with terrorists.

Since the coup, more than 250,000 Malians have fled the country, while 174,000 have been internally displaced, the UN said.

Meanwhile, an ongoing famine in Africa's Sahel region has left 1.63 million people in northern Mali in a "situation of severe, close to extreme, food insecurity", according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

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