APS : Thursday, 19 January 2017
NEW YORK (United Nations)- Algeria urged, on Wednesday in New York, the Malian parties to respect their undertakings for peace, by working to remove the obstacles to the reconciliation in Mali.
Certainly, “we have not yet reached our objective, but we cannot and should not give up despite the obstacles we face on our way to peace,” Algeria’s Permanent Representative Sabri Boukadoum said while addressing the UN Security Council.
The representative of Algeria, who was invited by the UN body to discuss mediation efforts in Mali, said that “the challenges, the frustrations and the unfulfilled legitimate expectations “should push all parties involved in the Mali peace process to accelerate the implementation of Algiers Agreement.”
“It clearly means that we should accelerate the achievement of joint objectives, but we must be very careful with any approach likely to compromise the setting up of the (peace) process,” added Boukadoum, who voiced his dismay by the despicable attack on Gao military camp on Wednesday.
“For all these reasons, we must frankly say that we need that the UN Security Council reaffirms its encouragements and support to the Algiers Agreement” and to its Following Committee, he added.
The Malian authorities and all the parties of the Agreement have always reaffirmed their unequivocal undertakings for the total implementation of this Agreement.
“So far, the feeling of the Algerian authorities is that the Agreement implementation is not contested by the other Malian parties,” he said, calling for avoiding the use of misunderstandings as pretext to abandon the peace process.
No party had the right to compromise this process through unjustified conduct or recurrent challenges to what had previously been fully accepted, he underlined.
In this regard, he hailed the Malian authorities for having approved the designation of a senior representative of the Malian president to implement the peace process, hoping that this initiative would allow joint patrols and intermediate authorities, as provided for by the Agreement.
The international community must support the mediation process that could serve as a model for other crisis situations, he said.
The peace process in Mali fits with the vision of conflict prevention, favored by UN new Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who envisages actions with the support of the parties concerned and the involvement of neighboring countries and regional mechanisms, he said.
Algeria which “mobilized huge human and material resources to (support) peace and reconciliation in this brotherly and neighboring country, will not escape its responsibilities towards all Malians and their authorities,” concluded Boukadoum.
