Mali
Mission AFISMA
Closely Held
by P5, Statis
on Bissau,
Morocco
Footnotes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 4 --
Of the two
coups earlier
this year, in
Mali
and Guinea
Bissau, the UN
Security
Council this
month has a
proposal
to authorize a
force to
"reconquer"
the North.
But
on Guinea
Bissau, the
coup appears
to have been
accepted. Just
yesterday at
the UN, the
post-cost
government was
congratulated
for
signing the
Paris
Commitments on
child
soldiers. If
only Mali's
Sanogo had
known.
Inner
City Press
asked
December's
incoming
Security
Council
president,
Permanent
Representative
Loulichki of
Morocco, about
the status of
the Mali
resolution: is
it still just
with the
Permanent Five
members, as
Inner City
Press has
heard
complaints
about?
Loulichki
said
the draft is
being
"prepared,"
then will be
circulated.
Inner City
Press hears
that while
France wants a
resolution
before
Christmas
authorizing
the ECOWAS
military force
--
which Inner
City Press
hears would be
called AFISMA
-- the US is
less
enthusiastic.
So the P5
fights it out.
But
neither wants
to pay. Ban
Ki-moon's
report said it
should be
voluntarily
funded --
French drones,
anyone? -- a
recommendation
that
ECOWAS
deplored.
Inner City
Press asked
about it on
Monday:
Inner
City Press: On
Mali, on the
report of the
Secretary-General,
there
has been some
push back;
ECOWAS
(Economic
Community of
West African
States) has
said that they
deplore the
report in the
sense that not
only does it
say that there
is more
specifics
needed, but
that, the
suggestion
that the UN
won’t pay,
that it should
be all
voluntarily
funded. Given
that the UN
does I think
fund AMISOM
(African Union
Mission in
Somalia) and
some other
things, is it
that it is
less
urgent or is
there, is
there, is the
UN’s financial
situation so
much worse at
this point
than it was at
the time of
AMISOM? How
does
he respond to
this deploring
by ECOWAS?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Two points:
first is that
we obviously
stand by the
report
that the
Secretary-General
put together
and has now
submitted to
the
Security
Council; the
second point
is that it is
in the hands
of the
Security
Council. They
are meeting on
Wednesday,
let’s see what
happens.
Yeah
- let's see
what happens.
Watch this
site.
Footnotes
on footnotes:
In the monthly
program of
work's
footnotes are
North Korea
(well, non
proliferation),
the DRC, and
Syria. So it
goes at the
UN.
, 
