New York, 14 January 2013 - Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson

for the Secretary-General on Mali

The Secretary-General is closely following the situation in Mali. He spoke on Saturday with the President ofCôte d'Ivoire and Chair of ECOWAS, Mr. AlassaneOuattara, who briefed him on the upcoming ECOWASsummit planned for 19 January in Abuja and the plans of several of its member states to deploy militaryforces. The Secretary-General spoke yesterday with the Foreign Minister of France, Mr. Laurent Fabius, whoinformed him on the ongoing French military operations in support of Mali's urgent request.

The Secretary-General welcomes that bilateral partners are responding, at the request and with theconsent of the government of Mali, to its call for assistance to counter the troubling push southward byarmed and terrorist groups. Countries with capabilities to assist Mali are now providing assistance. TheSecretary-General hopes these actions will help to arrest the latest offensive while efforts continue to fullyimplement Security Council Resolution 2085 (2012) aimed at the full restoration of Mali's constitutionalorder and territorial integrity.

These latest events underscore the urgency of implementing all aspects of the resolution, including supportto ECOWAS mediation efforts, the development of a consensual roadmap for the transition and provision ofsupport to AFISMA and the Malian defence forces.

Preparations are also continuing for the deployment soon of a UN multidisciplinary team to Bamako to carryforward the UN's support requested by the Malian authorities, including on both the political and securityprocess. Meanwhile, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for West Africa, Said Djinnit, continueshis consultations in the sub-region as part of efforts to speed up implementation of the Security Councilresolution 2085. He met today in Abuja with the President of the ECOWAS Commission, AmbassadorKadreDesiréOuédraogo. He also met with Foreign Minister DjibrillBassolé of Burkina Faso and is expected totravel to Bamako in the coming days to engage with the Malian leadership.