UN chief oppose arrest of Malian prime minister

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council on Tuesday spoke out against the arrest of Cheick Modibo Diarra, the Malian prime minister, by members of the West African country's armed forces, which led to his resignation and the dismissal of the government.

The arrest has prompted condemnation by the 15-nation UN Security Council and a call by Ban for an end to military interference in politics.

The secretary-general, in a statement issued here by his spokesman, said that he was "troubled" by the circumstances leading to the resignation of Cheick Modibo Diarra on Tuesday after he was put under arrest by the coup leaders. ?

The coup leaders oppose a foreign-aided military intervention to drive out Islamists, who, together with rebels, have taken over the northern half of Mali in March when a military coup took place in the capital Bamako. ?

"The secretary-general calls again for a cessation of military interference in politics and urges the Malian leadership to resolve any issues through peaceful means," the statement said.

Soldiers reportedly arrested Diarra at his residence in Bamako on Monday night, the latest development in the ongoing crisis in the West African nation, which has been dealing with a range of security, political and humanitarian problems since the start of the year.

Fighting between government forces and Tuareg rebels broke out in the country's north in January, following which radical Islamists have seized control of the region.

The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d'etat in March have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians this year.

"These latest developments underscore the importance of sustained national and international efforts to address the political crisis in Bamako," the statement said.

Also on Tuesday, the Security Council condemned the arrest in a statement read out to the press by Mohammed Loulichki, the Moroccan UN ambassador who holds the Security Council's rotating presidency for December. The Security Council also expressed its readiness "to consider appropriate measures, including targeted sanctions, against those who prevent the restoration of the constitutional order and take actions that undermine stability in Mali."

Both the Security Council and the secretary-general called on the interim president of Mali, Dioncounda Traore, to move swiftly to form a broad-based inclusive government.

Meanwhile, the Security Council urged the transitional authorities of Mali to expedite the establishment of a transitional roadmap, through broad-based and inclusive political dialogues, to fully restore constitutional order and national unity, including through the holding of peaceful, inclusive and credible elections as soon as possible.

The Security Council also stressed its commitment to authorizing as soon as possible the deployment of the African-led so-called International Support Mission in Mali. UN military and police planners have worked closely with the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union, in consultation with Malian authorities, in developing a framework for the proposed force.

The ECOWAS, which includes Mali, produced a detailed plan last month for approval by the Security Council, before deploying more than 3,000 troops, probably next year, in northern Mali. The proposed plan is aimed at both restoring territorial integrity and constitutional rule in a country once touted as a model of democracy.

However, Herve Ladsous, the UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, and the special envoy of the secretary-general for Sahel, former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, said that any military action in northern Mali was unlikely to take place before September or October next year.

The Sahel is a thin belt stretching across sub-Saharan Africa and plagued by widespread political insecurity, food crises and poverty. It includes Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as parts of Nigeria, Sudan and Cameroon.