US to Mali: End restrictions on UN peacekeepers, seek peace

UNITED NATIONS — The United States warned Mali’s military government Wednesday that it would be “irresponsible” for the United Nations to continue deploying its more than 15,000 peacekeepers unless the western African nation ends restrictions including on operating reconnaissance drones and carries out political commitments toward peace and elections in March 2024. The United States is also “greatly concerned” that the government expelled the peacekeeping mission’s human rights chief and didn’t issue sanctions for U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against Mali. Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere expressed concern Wednesday that there has been no report on an attack in the central Mali town of Maura in late March 2022 “with, as we know, the involvement of the Wagner Group.” Human Rights Watch said Mali’s army and foreign troops suspected to be Russian rounded up and killed an estimated 300 men in the town. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council Moscow is providing “comprehensive assistance” to the Malian army to increase its combat readiness which is producing “real results on the ground.” Responding to “negative” Western reaction to its military cooperation, Nebenzia said it’s “unfortunate that they cannot set aside their geopolitical rivalry.” He blamed the current terrorist activity in Mali and the Sahel on “irresponsible military actions of Western countries in Libya.” Mali’s U.N.