UN welcomes Malian junta-ECOWAS agreement on terrorism

The Security Council late Monday acknowledged the signing last week of a framework agreement between the perpetrators of the coup d\'Etat in Mali and the Mediation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aimed at the restoration of constitutional order in the country, and urged all concerned Malian stakeholders to implement it immediately. In a statement to the press issued by the Council President, the US, the council reaffirmed the need to uphold and respect the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Mali, rejected categorically any declarations to the contrary by some groups which declared independence in the north, and demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities in the north by those groups. The council also expressed \"deep concern\" at the increased terrorist threat in the three northern regions of Mali (Gao, Kidal, Timbuktu) due to the presence among the rebels of members of Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and extremist elements. It also condemned the abduction in Gao of Algerian diplomatic personnel and all violence and looting, including against humanitarian workers. ECOWAS and the military junta in Mali signed an agreement last Friday by which the junta agreed to give up power in return for an amnesty deal, lifting of sanctions, and a timetable for a return to constitutional rule and holding of elections, with the speaker of parliament, Dioncounda Traor{, as new interim President ruling with a transitional government.