French Defense Minister in Mali

{{France’s defense minister reaffirmed Friday that his country will keep 1,000 troops in Mali to fight radical Islamic militants even after the arrival later this year of more than 12,000 U.N. peacekeepers.}}

In a visit to the volatile northeastern city of Gao, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian addressed reporters a day after the U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of the peacekeeping force.

“From now on we are in the post-war phase. The U.N. resolution adopted yesterday will allow for the arrival of a force to stabilize the country,” he told reporters.

“But France will keep about 1,000 soldiers to carry on with military operations.”

During Le Drian’s visit to Mali, he met with the country’s interim president as well as with Gen. Ibrahim Dahrou Dembele to discuss efforts underway to train the Malian military.

Dembele also highlighted the difficulties that remain in the Kidal region of Mali despite the French military successes.

The area has been patrolled by French and Chadian forces, as local authorities have refused the presence of Malian soldiers whom they accuse of human rights abuses.

Dembele, though, said that secular Tuareg rebels in the area known as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad were complicating efforts.

“The problem is right now they are going out into other small villages,” he told the French defense minister.

Some Malians are already questioning how successful the United Nations peacekeeping mission to their country will be given its limited mandate and the volatile mix of armed groups across the north.

The U.N. force is tasked with helping to restore peace after a French-led military operation was launched in January to dislodge radical Islamic fighters who had seized control of the country’s vast north.

However, the U.N. peacekeepers will not be authorized to launch offensive military operations or chase terrorists in the desert, which French forces will continue to do, although France is aiming to downscale its presence in its former colony by year-end.

{wirestory}