United States military assistance to the government of Mali will remain suspended despite the formation of a transitional government following the Aug. 18 military coup, J. Peter Pham, U.S. Special Envoy to the Sahel, said on Wednesday.
Pham, who recently visited Mali and met the new leaders of the transition, told a news conference the interim government marked progress towards conducting free and fair elections.
“But until such time as those are held, and a constitutional government is restored, we are obliged under U.S. law to restrict our military assistance,” Pham said. […]
The United States has maintained its support during this period to other international partners in Mali such as France, who are battling militants there linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Pham said security assistance to international partners such as the G5 Sahel nations, the French Barkhane operation and European Takuba task force, or cooperation with the United Nations mission to Mali, remains in place. ”The restrictions are specific. They are security assistance to the regime that takes over from an elected government. It doesn’t involve humanitarian and development assistance which consist of the bulk of our assistance for Mali,” he said. Läs artikel