German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita are due to discuss issues of security and peace February 8 in Berlin, the German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in an official briefing on Friday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita are due to discuss issues of security and peace February 8 in Berlin, the German government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in an official briefing on Friday."The meeting will address issues of security and the peace process, as well as German presence in Mali within the context of UN MINUSMA and EC EUTM Mali missions, and the current political climate in the Sahel region," Seibert said.
The meeting in Berlin is also set to address future reform in Mali, particularly creating a favorable investment climate and addressing migration problems, Seibert said.
Mali has been gripped by civil war since 2012 when Malian soldiers staged a coup d'etat in protest of the government's handling of a Tuareg rebellion in the country's north. The crisis quickly escalated to an armed conflict when Islamists took control of the weakened territories in the North.
In 2013, a French intervention secured fragile peace in the area. That same year, in an effort to provide stability in the region, the United Nations founded two missions, the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) Mali. Since opening, 177 MINUSMA peacekeepers out of about 15,000 delegated to Mali have been killed, according to UN figures. On January 21, an attack was launched on the peacekeeping camp in Aguelhok, killing 10 and injuring 25. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks and claimed that they may constitute a war crime.
