Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, is a frequent guest on various media outlets throughout the world. Azikiwe has written extensively on African and international affairs., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Fri Mar 1, 2013 6:27PM GMT
To watch this interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, on Press TV World News, just click on the website below:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/03/01/291453/mali-war-to-be-a-protracted-conflict/#
A political analyst tells Press TV that the war in Mali is going to be a very, very protracted conflict and of course France as well as the United States and Germany are going to be heavily involved in the months to come.
The comments came after French officials said the country’s forces will remain in Mali until at least July amid reports of a serious humanitarian crisis in the northern areas of the country caused by the French-led war in the West African nation.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, to further discuss the issue. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Germany is now joining essentially this war in Mali. Certainly these countries are benefitting somehow from this war. How exactly is that?
Azikiwe: Mali is a very mineral rich country. They have oil, they have gold, there is possibility of uranium that exists there . Also we have to understand that neighboring Niger is one of the largest repositories of uranium in the world and of course this conflict that is going on there right now is going to be extended, it is going to deepen.
France said that they would only be there for a matter of weeks. Then they said they are going to pull out in April and now today they said they are going to extend their deployment there until July.
So we can see very clearly that this war is going to be a protracted one because they are meeting a tremendous amount of resistance in several northern cities and towns, also dozens of Chadian troops who were working there alongside the French have been killed in the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in the northeast on the border with Algeria.
This is going to be a very, very protracted conflict and of course France, the United States, and Germany as well are going to be heavily involved in the months to come.
Press TV: So should we expect other European countries to also join in so that they can also reap the benefits of this mineral-rich nation?
Azikiwe: Yes Britain has also had some involvement in regard to transporting troops and military equipment. Also Canada in North America also has involvement in the conflict. Of course they are trying to say that the United States cannot directly get involved because of the military coup that took place in Mali last March, but what they failed to mention is that the United States is heavily involved in regard to training the Malian military.
Captain Sanogo who launched the coup d’état in March was trained in several military academies here in the United States. Along with their military command. the US Africa Command, AFRICOM, are actually responsible for the military coup there but also responsible in regard to the escalation of destabilization in Mali stemming from the bombing of Libya in 2011.
So the United States' hand is all over this conflict and of course it is going to drag in their NATO allies as well.
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