Mali crisis: Agreement Monitoring Committee allowed armed groups to renew commitment to peace process

The Agreement Monitoring Committee, in charge of the implementation of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali, which held a meeting three days ago, allowed the armed groups to renew their commitment to the peace process, said Saturday in Beijing Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and International Cooperation Abdoulay Diop.

"We regret the resumption of clashes between the armed movements in the north of the country over the past days. We believe that calm must be restored now," Diop told APS, on the sidelines of the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-African Cooperation, held Friday in Beijing.

"The Agreement Monitoring Committee's Meeting, held three days ago, (following clashes between armed groups in Northern Mali) allowed the armed groups to resume talks to renew their commitment to the peace process," he added.

"We are deeply grateful to Algeria for its role in the appeasing the situation in Mali," said Diop.

"The most important now lies in the hands of Malians. The government of Mali is determined to implement the Peace and Reconciliation agreement, stemming for Algiers Process, and also concrete actions to that end," he added.

Diop expressed satisfaction as regards the Coordinators' Meeting on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-African Cooperation, dubbing it "very important."