Bamako, 11 août 2011 (SPS)- Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure launched a blueprint and a massive program to develop and secure the north of Malian borders with Algeria, in a move to re-establish Bamako’s control over these vast areas abandoned by the Malian government after becoming the most important strongholds of AQIM.
President Amadou Toumani Toure gave on Wednesday a signal of starting the project as a first phase of the program for security, peace and development in the north of Mali as a part of the National Security Strategy adopted by the Supreme Council of Defense in Mali 2009.
Algeria contributes in this program with $10 million, it granted for developing the areas of “Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu” where insurgency movements of the Touaregs disturbed life of people, and where terrorists build their main strongholds.
The Malian President said in a press statement that this strategy based on “Bilateral friendship of security and development”, adding that; “Sustainable development is the only answer to terrorism. Poverty and insecurity is a fertile ground for terrorist groups. We are fully convinced that the military option alone cannot strop terrorism threats in the Sahel region, which represents the quarter of Africa. Military force should be ready for facing dangers”.
Algeria shows a great important to development, security and stability in the Sahel and Sahara, through the formation of a join military force with Niger and Mauritania that includes 75.000 soldiers to secure the region, in addition to providing financial aid to the Sahel countries, like the one it granted to the Malian government worth $10 million, to finance development projects in North Mali, and its repeated calls for the international community to strengthen support through official development aids and foreign direct investment for the Sahel countries to enable them to respond to the threat of terrorist groups which exploit poverty of people to recruit them in their ranks. (SPS)
Photo : Keystone