ALGIERS – Algeria has expressed deep concern after Malian authority suspended the peace and reconciliation agreement, commonly known as Algiers Agreement.
A statement issued by Algierian Foreign Office said the termination of peace and reconciliation agreement moved risks for Mali and the entire region that is seeking peace and security.
The North African country takes note of this decision, the particular gravity of which it wishes to note for Mali itself, for the entire region which aspires to peace and security, and for the entire international community which has put everything its weight and many means to help Mali return to stability through national reconciliation.
It said Malian authorities and people are aware that Algeria never failed to work towards the implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali, resulting from the Algiers process, with sincerity, good faith and unwavering solidarity towards Mali.
Malian people must also know and must convince themselves that the long list of reasons given in support of the cancellation of the Agreement absolutely does not correspond in any way to the truth or to reality.
Malian authorities had been preparing this decision for a long time, and warning signs for two years have been their almost total withdrawal from the implementation of the Agreement, their almost systematic refusal of any initiative tending to re-launch the implementation of this Agreement, their contestation of integrity of international mediation, their designation of signatories to the Agreement, duly recognized, as terrorist leaders, their request for withdrawal from MINUSMA, the recent intensification of their arms programs financed by third countries and their recourse to international mercenaries, it further said.
Algeria further maintained that all these systematically implemented measures have carefully prepared the ground for the abandonment of the political option in favor of the military option as a means of resolving the Malian crisis.
Malian people must know that such unfortunate and unwelcome decisions have proven in the past that the military option is the first threat to the unity and territorial integrity of Mali, that it carries within it the seeds of a civil war in Mali, that it postpones national reconciliation instead of bringing it closer and that it finally constitutes a source of real threat to regional peace and stability.
Military junta suspended the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation between the government of Bamako and northern independence groups, sayng changes in posture among signatory groups and alleging acts of hostility and exploitation by Algerian authorities.
In the last decade, Mali saw uptick in attacks and violence that have left thousands of people dead while huge number of people were displaced while Algeria remained among leading nations that played efforts to bring peace to Mali.
