The future of the UN mission in Mali (Minusma), according to Mali’s transition leader Col Assimi Goita, will rely heavily on a change in strategy and better relations with the country’s army.
Col Goita tweeted that he had met with UN Chief of Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who is on a two-day tour in Mali ahead of Minusma’s mandate renewal.
The state-linked L’Essor quoted Mr Lacroix as saying that this was about ensuring there was an agreement between Mali and the UN “so that when the time comes, the recommendations at the level of the [UN] Security Council are in line with the objectives of the Malian authorities”.
UN peacekeepers have been in the country since 2013, but relations with Bamako have recently deteriorated.
Several countries, including Germany and Cote D’Ivoire, have announced plans to withdraw from the mission or scale down their presence.