UPDATE - Mali suspends all UN peacekeeping rotations

REVISES HEADLINE, ADDS REACTION FROM UN

By Aurore Bonny and James Tasamba

DOUALA, Cameroon/KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) –The Malian government decided Thursday to suspend all military and police contingent rotations of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

All rotations, scheduled or announced, are affected by the suspension pending the holding of "a coordination meeting between the Malian structures concerned and MINUSMA," said a statement from Mali’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

It cited "reasons linked to the national security context" for the suspension and said Mali would work diligently to create conditions for lifting the suspension.

The decision was made four days after the July 10th arrest of 49 Ivorian soldiers "with their weapons and war minutiae as well as other military equipment" at Modibo Keita International Airport in Bamako, the Malian capital.

They are mercenaries whose "fateful intention" was to "break the momentum of the Refoundation and the securing of Mali, as well as the return to constitutional order," said authorities.

-UN calls for urgent settlement

The United Nations later Thursday called for an urgent settlement of the matter following the suspension of the rotation of the peacekeepers.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the rotation of contingents is crucial for the mission's operational effectiveness as well as the safety and security of personnel.

“All efforts must be made for an urgent settlement, especially since some of the staff concerned should have been relieved several months ago,” he said.

“The UN Mission in Mali, MINUSMA, was informed this morning by the Malian authorities of a coordination meeting to be held between the relevant Malian structures and MINUSMA prior to the planned rotation of contingents,” Haq said.

“The mission takes note of this communication and stands ready to participate in the discussions without delay.”

Ivory Coast’s government said Tuesday that its soldiers were present on Malian soil in the eighth rotation as part of operations from national support elements linked to the UN mission.

It called on Mali to release "without delay the unjustly arrested soldiers."

None of the soldiers had weapons and ammunition of war when they got off the plane, but the weapons of the contingent authorized by the United Nations were on a second plane, according to the executive secretary of the Ivorian National Security Council, Fidèle Sarassro.

But according to the Malian government, which cited an interview with MINUSMA, no rotation had been planned on the day of their arrest.