Press Communiqué No 004 / 2011-11-27


 The Centre4s expresses its deep concern over the brutal killing and the daring kidnapping of foreign nationals in northern Mali last week.

 

 

 

 

In carrying out these two operations in less than 48 hours, the authors and their associates have many objectives: to scare further local populations, intimidate national and foreign governments, disrupt the democratization processes in the region and indeed collect revenues.

   

The Centre conveys its sincere condolences to the family of the German victim and formulates the hope that all hostages, the new as well as the ancients ones, will recover their freedom peacefully. Hostages taking and ransoms collection cannot be substitute to sound policies.

The magnitude and diversity of the threats and risks are enormous. Among them four are the most threatening: ungoverned vast and under populated regions, traffics and trafficking including in hard drugs from Latin America to Europe and Middle East, movements of radical activists, new hardened combatants and masses of youth without hopes and finally, a huge reservoir for recruitment and action in Nigeria with the Boko Haram group. As in similar troubled regions elsewhere, there are obviously many linkages and bounds between criminal activities and ideological posturing.

Moreover, there are increasingly legitimate concerns that the new surge in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has connections with on land criminal activities. The junction, in the heart of the Sahel Sahara, of the drug and irregular migrations routes departing from the ports on the Atlantic coast with those departing from the Gulf of Guinea ports, could not be encouraging. Money from piracy is fuelling the circuits.

While in mid and long terms, the demise of the Kaddafi regime will contribute to stability, in the short term, it comports serious threats that need to be minimized. In particular, the political vacuum left by “the Guide” and the return of trained ex combatants carrying their MANPADS – man-portable air defense systems – invite the governments of the region and their international partners to take practical measures to contain these negative consequences.

Finally, as in its previous communications on these issues, the Centre calls on governments in the Sahel Sahara to reinforce effectively their collaborative efforts to help address, in a more concrete manner, the many challenges faced by the region. Mistrust, suspicion and political tensions amongst and between states would only hinder the much needed cooperation. Similarly, blaming one another for lack of effectiveness or trying to monopolize the diplomatic or the security actions are doomed policies especially in an increasingly complex socio political environment.

Recommendations

In this troubled context, the Centre 4s recommends the following:

. To help protect its recent political and military investments, the international community and especially the leading member states of the Security Council should insist on and push for Libya internal reconciliation. The African Union, the League of Arab States and governments like that of Qatar can help in this undertaking. A spill over or a contagious effect from a Libya chaos would have lasting and devastating effects on an already fragile Sahel Sahara and beyond. The new Libyan authorities should know that they have vested interests in stable and prosperous neighbors especially those from the Sahel.

. In the short and midterm, additional efforts should be made to mobilize resources to assist especially Niger due to its vulnerability to endemic drought and to losses in revenues suffered as a direct consequence of the Libya crisis. To a large extent, Chad, Mali and Mauritania need also increased political as well as financial support.

. More professional Security institutions, free from tribal, clans and other kinds of connections with the undesirable elements operating in the Sahel Sahara can better ensure lasting stability. At the same time, the fight against terrorism is no guarantee to the perpetuation of non democratic governance or to ignoring pervasive corruption. More precisely, the grave deficit in these two areas is among the root causes of the current discontent and violence.

. The most concerned countries – Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger face serious and identifiable threats more than most other states of the region. Indeed other countries, from Benin to Burkina, Cape Verde to Chad, Niger to Nigeria, Senegal to Sudan and Togo to Tunisia and Morocco are also affected and interested in the stability of the region. As a consequence, no country or group of countries has the sole responsibility for resolving the entire regional problems. On the contrary, diplomatic competition would exacerbate further the bilateral relations while the main objective – stability, would become a secondary issue.

On the long term, the construction of physical infrastructures, especially roads, from North to South and East to West in the Sahel Sahara, are essential to economic growth, job creation, and revenues generation. In addition, they would help the area nomads – Moorish, Fulani, Tuaregs and others, to be better integrated within their respective countries. Finally, a larger decentralization may become unavoidable if the governments want to maintain their effectiveness in the field.

Based in Nouakchott, the Centre’s area of intervention is the band of land stretching from Mauritania down to Guinea along the Atlantic coast and, across the savannah, to Chad and Sudan. The main issues it addresses are: defense and security of the Sahel Sahara; armed violence and terrorism; competition for oil, gas and uranium; irregular migrations within and outside the region; trafficking in human, cigarettes, drugs, etc; environmental and renewable energies. The main priority is to help the region and its international partners – public and private, as well as those from Civil Society organizations, Universities, Forums, and others Groups, to collaborate further in order to ensure security and prosperity of the Sahel

Centre 4 S

30/11/2011 10:17:33

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