UNITED NATIONS, April 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — Signatories to the 2014 Algiers Peace Agreement have new proposals to consider on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting on Mali, a UN spokesman said.
The international mediation group presented concrete proposals to the parties to relaunch implementation of the proposed peace accord, said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The council will take up Mali on Wednesday.
The group comprises the UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, Algeria, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the European Union, the United States and France. On Friday, it released a proposal statement following a meeting in Bamako.
Dujarric said the group expressed concern about tensions between the signatory parties, the government and armed rebel groups.
He said, “In this context, they appeal to the parties to refrain from statements and actions that could jeopardize the mediation’s efforts to facilitate the successful conclusion of the peace process, to translate their stated commitment to the peace agreement into concrete actions, and to place the interests of Mali and its people above all other considerations.”
The spokesman added that the international mediation group also reaffirmed its commitment to continue to work with the signatory parties and the Malian people in their quest for lasting peace, stability, and reconciliation.
The Friday Bamako statement said the mediation group is concerned about the resurgence of tension between the signatory parties.
“It urgently appeals to the parties to refrain from statements and actions that could jeopardize the mediation’s efforts aimed at facilitating the successful conclusion of the peace process, to translate their stated commitment to the agreement into concrete actions, and to place the interests of their country and its people above all other considerations,” the communique said.
It said the mediation group reaffirms its commitment to continue to accompany the signatory parties – the government and armed rebel groups – and the Malian people in their quest for lasting peace, stability, and reconciliation based on the full respect of the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of their country.
El-Ghassim Wane, the head of MINUSMA, will attend the Security Council session on Wednesday to report on the situation in Mali, Dujarric said. — NNN-XINHUA
