UN extends sanctions regime in Mali for another year

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

August 29, 2019 6:35 PM

The UN Security Council on Thursday extended for another year its sanctions regime on Mali for individuals who violate a 2015 peace accord.

Deputy permanent representative of France to the United Nations Anne Gueguen, pictured in 2017, said the sanctions had induced changes in the behavior of some Malians

"Those who continue to impede the implementation of the peace accord will face sanctions," warned Ambassador Anne Gueguen, the deputy permanent UN representative of France, which drafted the resolution.

In July, the Security Council added five names to its list of Malians sanctioned with travel bans.

Gueguen said the sanctions had induced changes in the behavior of some Malians, and had helped foster implementation of the peace agreement.

Since the sanctions regime was first put in place in 2017, the Security Council on several occasions expressed impatience with the progress in Mali's pacification.

Seven years after a French military intervention against jihadist groups that seized northern Mali in 2012, attacks linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group have continued, intermingled with inter-communal conflicts, particularly in the center of the country.

Pulse News Agency International by AFP