Mali: 41st ECOWAS Summit proposes a military response to Mali crisis

The continued instability in Mali dominated discussions at the 41^st Ordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government last Friday in Côte d’Ivoire. Leaders of the regional body discussed the growing instability in the region with the focus on two major security situations in Mali and Guinea Bissau.

Tension in Mali and the progress of negotiations between ECOWAS and the rebel groups featured prominently in the discussions. ECOWAS expressed concern over attempts by ‘certain fringe political and social forces’ to impede the political transition in Bamako.  The regional body is of the opinion that the behaviour of those actors was aimed at preventing the deployment of ECOWAS troops and disrupting the implementation of the political roadmap. It threatened to activate its sanction regime against potential spoilers of the process.

The summit took place at a time when important developments unfolded in the north of Mali with the military defeat of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the Tuareg-led insurgents claiming independence. If the defeat of the MNLA confirmed the initial weakness of the movement in the balance of power among groups active in the north, it also brought in some dynamics that will make the negotiation/political process extremely challenging.

Although ECOWAS fully supports the negotiation process, due to increased instability, military intervention seems inevitable. In that sense, two main decisions were adopted.  Firstly, ECOWAS’ decision to fast-track the deployment of its standby Force Mission in Mali (MICEMA) keeps the military option well on the agenda. Secondly, ECOWAS has decided to send a ‘Technical Assessment Mission’ to Mali to work on logistics with the transition government.

However, the intervention, be it military or otherwise, needs international support, especially with regard to logistics, finances and intelligence, as well as a mandate from the United Nations (UN). ECOWAS’ request to the UN Security Council (UNSC) is still to be approved after UN members expressed dissatisfaction with the objectives, timeframe and modalities of the intervention. International actors such as the US and France have been hesitant to get involved in a military intervention in the prevailing post-Côte d’Ivoire and Libya international climate. Particularly, France’s political involvement is seen as very critical as it has been one of the key international players in West Africa and has security and strategic concerns in the Sahel.

However, its hesitation could be explained by a variety of reasons, including criticisms over its role in Côte d’Ivoire, the necessity to avoid a general conflagration in the Sahel, concerns over French hostages and France’s complex relations with Algeria. Even though Paris has made a number of pronouncements on the situation, the newly elected president Francois Hollande faced the dilemma of addressing domestic concerns and engaging France in a venture that might be financially draining for the country.

The US has also expressed reservations over the use of the military option. While concerns over a military response might be justified, neither the international community nor the regional bodies (AU, ECOWAS) have put forward a coherent ‘peaceful solution’ needed to restore peace and stability in both Mali and the region. The region is progressively heading toward the scenario of being a ‘safe haven’ for separatist and terrorist groups to establish what ECOWAS calls a ‘coordinating centre for continental terrorist networks’. It is still not clear whether members of Ansar Dine, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Unity Movement for Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and others will accept the principle of a political solution. The forced exit of the MNLA also has serious implications for the response mechanism to be put in place.

 Apart from the concerns raised by external partners, ECOWAS has mentioned in previous reports that its intervention is subject to the invitation of the transitional government in Bamako. Even if this occurs, it is important that Algeria and France as well other key role-players reach a consensus on the modalities of any response mechanism to the situation in the Sahel. These two factors, with the support of the UNSC in the form of a resolution, will strengthen ECOWAS’s mandate and conflict management efforts in the region.

The recent attacks on eight mausoleums and several tombs in Timbuktu by militant groups from northern Mali have increased media attention on the crisis in the Sahel region. UNESCO and the International Criminal Court (ICC) have condemned the actions, with the ICC threatening to hold perpetrators accountable. Under the Rome Statute, attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected are considered war crimes provided they are not military objectives (Article 2. IX).

 It is believed that part of the strategy guiding the fundamentalists’ position is to raise media attention, redefine the social relations among various religious traditions and recruit even beyond Mali.

The situation in Mali is one that needs to be addressed urgently as it could have a spill-over effect and pose a direct threat to international peace and stability. Indeed, the recent two major developments in northern Mali – the defeat of the MNLA and the attacks on Timbuktu – should force a reassessment of various actors’ interpretations and positions on the crisis. As Morocco, France has indicated that it will not stand by and watch the destruction of what is considered a world heritage site. The attacks have drawn global condemnation. The key question now is what will the main actors do?

This is important in light of the problem ECOWAS has had with harmonising the views of various actors with regard to the appropriate response to the Mali crisis. The developments in Timbuktu and the ECOWAS summit have brought Mali to the forefront as a serious threat to peace and stability, with ECOWAS being very clear on its position and that its intention is not to go to war with the militant groups in northern Mali, but rather to defend the territorial integrity of Mali and restore security in the region.