Imperial Party forum

thomas davison

UK troops 'must not get bogged down' on Mali training mission

Nicholas Cecil and Peter Allen

15 January 2013

Ministers are to pave the way for British troops to train the army in Mali amid warnings that they should not become �bogged down� in a long conflict.

Europe minister David Lidington will ask MPs who are scrutinising the proposed mission to back the Government�s decision to give it the green light.

At the same time, he will also push ahead with plans to extend an EU training mission, involving British officers in war-torn Somalia, to 2015.

But the European Scrutiny Committee is demanding reassurances that the Mali deployment will not �morph into something long-term and become bogged down ... or lead on to a peace-making mission�.

The EU is drawing up plans to send a 150-strong training team to Mali, with a security force of 250 to protect it. Britain is set to deploy a small number of trainers as well as security personnel. The National Security Council, chaired by David Cameron, was discussing the Mali crisis this afternoon. Islamic extremists linked to al Qaeda are pushing south from northern strongholds against a weak Malian army.

France is to send thousands more troops to boost its 750-strong force in the north-west African country to repel the militants� advances towards the capital Bamako.

A convoy of 40 to 50 tanks and armed trucks carrying French troops crossed into Mali from Ivory Coast, where they were stationed, as France prepares for a possible land assault. Despite France�s five-day-old aerial assault, the Islamist fighters have succeeded in gaining ground, most notably taking the garrison town of Diabaly yesterday, which puts them roughly 250 miles from Bamako.

Residents in Diabaly said they were cowering inside their homes after an all-night bombing campaign by French special forces.

Africa minister Mark Simmonds told the Commons how the extremists were raping women and abducting children to force them to join militias. �Stoning, amputations and other participation in extreme Sharia law are also taking place,� he added.

A British C-17 transport plane landed early this morning in Bamako carrying French military vehicles and other kit, with a second RAF aircraft, which had suffered a technical fault, expected to head to Mali today.

French president Fran�ois Hollande said that overnight strikes by fighter jets had �achieved their goals� and that his troops on the ground would increase to around 2,500 over the next few weeks. Mr Cameron has ruled out sending British combat troops to Mali.

Both Britain and France have warned that the country could become a haven for terrorists unless action is taken against the extremists. The UN Security Council last night unanimously backed the West�s intervention. Nigeria is to supply 600 troops, as part of an African-led force of around 3,000.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: �As the Government has made clear, there are certainly no plans for any UK combat role forces on the ground in Mali. As part of a process pre-dating the current French military action, we continue to scope the possibility of the UK contributing to a future EU training mission in Mali.�

Here we go again Mali could become a haven for terrorists, DOES HE NOT KNOW THAT THE HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS IS HERE IN THE UK.
When did our soldiers become the property of the EU?
IF WE DO NOT GET A REFERENDUM BY 2014 WE WILL BE LOCKED INTO THE EU THANKS TO LABOUR, THAT IS WHY CAMERLOON IS HANGING BACK SO HE CAN THEN SAY IT IS TOO LATE TO GIVE YOU ONE,
REVOLUTION IS THE ONLY ANSWER.