* Juppe says region must unite against Islamist threat
* Offers French logistical help for future ECOWAS mission
* Sarkozy suggests military intervention last resort
(Adds Sarkozy in last two grafs on military intervention)
By John Irish and Catherine Bremer
PARIS, April 5 (Reuters) – French Foreign Minister Alain
Juppe said on Thursday there could only be a resolution to the
Tuareg-led rebellion in the north of Mali via political dialogue
and called for regional cooperation to fight al Qaeda’s
expansion in the area.
Long one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, Mali
has been plunged into turmoil since a widely condemned coup on
March 22 that emboldened Tuareg rebels to seize half the country
in their quest for a northern homeland.
“There will not be a military solution with the Tuaregs.
There needs to be a political solution,” Juppe said, adding that
countries in the region had to begin talks to accomplish this.
Mali’s MNLA separatist rebels said they had ended their
fight to create an “Azawad” state on the edge of the Sahara on
Thursday after achieving their goal, according to the group’s
website.
The rebels, battling alongside Islamist militants who want
to impose sharia, or Islamic law, swept through northern Mali
last week, pushing government forces from Kidal, Gao and
Timbuktu, the three northern regions of Mali that the MNLA says
will form the new state.
Juppe said Paris was in contact with the various players in
Mali, including the MNLA, which he said was a credible
interlocutor. He said there was a clear distinction between that
group which was seeking independence and the Ansar Dine
Islamists, who had been “infiltrated” by al Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM).
“They have another objective which is to establish an
Islamist regime in Mali and the Sahel as a whole,” Juppe said.
“I don’t see how we could have dialogue with AQIM whose
objective is to kill our citizens.”
HOSTAGES
France, the former colonial ruler, is Mali’s fourth-largest
aid donor – a vital source of income in one of the world’s
poorest countries – and also trains and equips government
forces. Since the rebellion, it has suspended its cooperation,
but has maintained aid to the population.
Paris has advised its 5,000 citizens living in the West
African state to leave. The escalating crisis also worries
France given that AQIM is holding six French hostages in the
region.
Before the coup, West African leaders had been considering
sending a force to help Mali secure its north, where rebels,
Islamists and smugglers have long mixed.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is
still weighing military plans after imposing sanctions on Mali,
but officials say the junta would have to stand down before
outsiders would help Bamako.
“First and foremost we want regional cooperation between
Algeria, ECOWAS countries, Nigeria, Mauritania, etc. for a
strategy to fight terrorism in the Sahel,” Juppe said.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday also threw its
support behind efforts by ECOWAS to restore order in Mali.
Juppe said he believed a mediation effort to restore
constitutional order and remove the junta led by Burkina Faso
President Blaise Compoare was beginning to yield results.
He said it could take time for ECOWAS to deploy 3,000 troops
in Mali, and that France would therefore be ready to provide
logistical support, though he ruled out direct military
intervention.
“I don’t think French troops would be welcomed either by
Algeria or anybody else. The answer must first come from
regional states,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested
military intervention was an option, but only as a last resort.
“France cannot envisage any intervention without the
regional powers first trying to calm the situation and unless
there was a U.N. Security Council mandate,” he said.
(Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Osborn)
