Germany suspends military mission in Mali

Berlin, The Gulf Observer: Germany has suspended most of its operations in Mali after the local military-led government denied flyover rights to a United Nations peacekeeping mission.

“The Malian government has once again refused to give flyover rights to a flight planned for today” for the rotation of personnel, a spokesman for the German defense ministry said at a regular news conference on Friday.

In response, Germany had decided to “suspend until further notice the operations of our reconnaissance forces and CH-53 transport flights”.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Germany was prepared in principle to participate in an international peacekeeping mission, but only if this was supported by the Malian government.

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht received assurances that overflight rights would be restored from her Malian counterpart Sadio Camara as recently as Thursday.

Mali, with its population of about 20 million, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered extremely unstable.