Around 1,000 people marched on Saturday through the streets
of Bamako to demand a swift international intervention to reclaim northern
Mali, which armed Islamist groups have been occupying for eight months.
“We cannot allow half of our country to remain in the hands
of criminals. The international community must understand that and help Mali,”
said one of the demonstrators, student Hamadoun Diallo.
Several political parties had called the protest, as the
north remains in the grips of the Islamist movements Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb, its offshoot the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)
and homegrown group Ansar Dine.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has
3,300 troops on standby to help Mali’s crippled military wrest back control of
the region but is waiting for a go-ahead from the UN Security Council.
On Wednesday, Mali issued a fresh appeal to the UN for a
green light on the intervention, but UN chief Ban Ki-moon responded that the
council needed a more detailed plan to give its backing and that talks should
be given a chance.
Mali, once considered one of West Africa’s most stable
democracies, was plunged into chaos by a March coup that created a power vacuum
enabling the Islamist groups to grab control of the north.
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