10/12/2012 20:35 GMT
by Jo Biddle
WASHINGTON, Oct 12, 2012 (AFP) - As the UN Security Council paved the way for military intervention against Islamic militants in Mali, the United States is pushing for a broader solution to the multi-headed crisis facing the nation.
The council approved a resolution on Friday that gives West African nations 45 days to put forward a plan for bringing together an international force to flush out the militants in the north.
But experts and analysts warned that boots on the ground will not resolve all the challenges facing the west African nation.
"We want to see the territorial integrity of Mali fully restored. We want to see democracy, stability and development fully restored," the top US diplomat for Africa, Johnnie Carson, told AFP in an exclusive interview.
He stressed however that the west African nation is facing "four separate, but over-arching, problems. Which makes it one of the most complex and difficult situations in Africa today facing resolution."
Carson highlighted the lack of a democratic and credible government; the marginalization of the Tuareg people dating back to the early days of French colonial rule and the threat posed by Islamist militants.
The area is also plagued by a food crisis caused by drought and political instability in the Sahel region, a vast semi-desert on the southern Sahara.
The US supports the initiative for an African-led force to oust Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) militants from northern Mali.
The militants have attempted to impose a harsh version of Islamic sharia law, imposing punishments from amputations to summary executions.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton again accused the militants of "seeking to exploit periods of instability" and "trying to expand their reach from a stronghold in northern Mali."
But Carson stressed that, while a security response was needed in the north, all the issues facing Mali should be worked on in parallel.
"They need to be looked at as a set of challenges that must be dealt with" together, he said, suggesting that recent success in finally restoring a government in Somalia after two decades of civil war could prove a model.
"One should take a look at why it's successful and see if it has applicability for what needs to be done," the assistant secretary said. "I think it's important that we take a comprehensive approach.
"It does not mean that one of these issues should derail or slow down movement in the other areas... there are some areas that are going to move much faster and require much more energy, activity, resources."
Washington is pushing the transitional government and interim president Dioncounda Traore to move towards restoring democracy -- which would also mean the resumption of US funded programs slashed in the wake of the coup.
"First and foremost, the political problems in Bamako need solving before you can even think about any kind of security operations directed against the North," said Richard Downie, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The United States has said it will support a well-planned and well-resourced African-led intervention, and while it has not ruled out any direct US military intervention, analysts believe that is unlikely.
"Of course all contingencies are being considered, but I really don't see the very strong likelihood of a US direct intervention," Downie said.
"The emphasis is very much on the traditional AFRICOM approach which is building up capacities of host nations in the region, maybe providing some background support and things like intelligence.
"You might see some drones involved in this area but more likely on sort of surveillance capacity."
UN chief Ban and aid groups have warned a military operation needs careful planning, as pouring arms and weaponry into the region could worsen the plight of millions of people.
"The crisis is multi-dimensional and there are many risks still associated to a possible deployment of a regional force in the north," Gilles Yabi, West Africa Project Director for the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
"It is not going to be a peacekeeping operation, but a military operation in a very difficult terrain targeting mobile groups."
He also highlighted issues such as the collapse of state institutions, and the co-existence of many different communities.
"It can't be: 'let's just send in the military to the north and then everything will be OK'," agreed Jon Temin, director of the Sudan and South Sudan program at the US Institute of Peace.
"There are a lot of root causes as to why this rebellion happened in the north and why it was successful and until you really start to get at some of these root causes ... you are just treating it superficially."