Mali: concerted vision against terrorist threat

By on September 13, 2010
Visiting the European Parliament, the Malian President, Amadou Toumani Touré, defended his vision of a “shared responsibility” in the management of the Sahelo-Saharan band.

He called for a local development that may block the path to the expanding terrorism within the vast 8 million km2 of desert. He stressed that groups and criminal networks that are active in the region are a potential threat to all States, including Europe. He added that the countries bordering the strip, from Mauritania to Sudan via Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Chad have the charge and first responsibility to deal with the most of fighting and threats that may occur, he said. The Malian President has deplored what he called a “profound deficit” of the sub-regional cooperation. In his intervention, President Touré spoke about the efforts made by his country about the specific “emergency program to reduce the insecurity and the struggle against terrorism in northern Mali (PIRIN).     Launched last June, this program aims to tackle the main causes of insecurity in the north through an increased presence of state and social mobilisation to reduce sects and criminal groups influence. However, the “main Pillar” of this program will remain the development of local economy activity as a true and concrete alternative to the youth of the northern regions of Mali, instead of allegiance to the Salafi groups, President Amadou Toumani Touré has suggested.

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