NIGERIA and other West African countries Friday continued to rally the support and understanding of the international community for the military campaign of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA).
This came as the ECOWAS countries on Thursday welcomed the intervention of France to stop the advancing terrorists in Mali from taking over the capital, Bamako.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, who made the position of West Africa known on Thursday and yesterday at the 22nd Ordinary Session of The African Union Executive Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, argued that if France had not intervened, Mali would have seized to exist today.
"It was in realisation of the seriousness of this crisis that Nigeria deployed a force of 1,200 troops to Mali to be part of the ECOWAS-led intervention force, AFISMA. Nigeria is at the command of this force," Ashiru explained.
Ashiru also told journalists Friday that from the discussion held so far, Chad, Tanzania, South Africa, Burundi and Rwanda had announced plans to deploy troops to Mali.
The minister also disclosed that a delegation of Foreign Ministers of Denmark, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom (UK) and some Asian and Latin American countries, to the AU Summit have indicated support for the ECOWAS-led military operation in Mali.
He expressed happiness that countries, which were not part of the sub-region had decided to contribute troops to dislodge the insurgents in northern part of the West African country. He also described as a welcome development the fact that many countries and international partners had recognised the Malian crisis as an international crisis with ECOWAs taking the lead.
He also spoke on the humanitarian crisis the insurgency in Mali had bred, disclosing that had airlifted humanitarian supplies like food, medical and other items to ameliorate the suffering of displaced people in the West African country.
Nigeria, he added, is also making urgent financial assistance to the interim government in Mali.
On the misconception by some African nations that the crisis in Mali happened in the wake of a general election, Ashiru said: "We must get our sequence of history very well. We must not come here and distort history.
"The situation in Mali did not happen when elections were ongoing. There was no election yet. In fact, election was three months away when the government of former President Ahmadou Toure was removed by a group of young officers led by Captain Sanogo."
He said ECOWAS, as usual, rose to the occasion and engaged the coup leaders and declared that their action was unconstitutional.
He also explained that ECOWAS' stance was the precursor to the Framework Agreement, which is now being implemented following the United Nations Resolution 2085, which calls for a combination of dialogue and military action.
The minister, however, announced that ECOWAS and African Union were willing to negotiate with any group which was ready to renounce terrorism and vote for indivisibility of Mali with its territorial integrity as constituted today.
"Once they accept that, we will be ready to talk to them, we will be willing to dialogue with them. As many groups that are willing to break rank with the jihadists, we are willing to talk to them," he said.
Ashiru said there were plans already for an all-inclusive and open democratic process, after the military campaigns, for all interested Malians, except members of the current interim government who would not be allowed to participate in any proposed election in the country.
The Guardian