Five Malian nationals added to the UN sanctions blacklist

The UN Security Council on Tuesday added five Malian nationals to the blacklist of sanctions, including a businessman accused of drug trafficking and a local official who allegedly benefited from aid projects, said diplomats.

The five men have been banned from traveling around the world for obstructing peace efforts in Mali, a country in West Africa at the center of an insurgency that threatens the whole Sahel region.

It was only the second time that targeted sanctions were imposed on Mali. In December, three people linked to armed groups were also blacklisted.

The sanctions are aimed at consolidating a 2015 peace agreement aimed at restoring stability in Mali after a brief takeover by Islamists in the north of the country three years earlier.

Among the five are two prominent jihadists in northern Mali: Houka Houka Ag AlHousseni, an influential Islamist in Timbuktu; and Mahri Sidi Amar Ben Daha, described as a senior Islamic police official who led Gao in 2012-2013.

Mohamed Ould Mataly, a member of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's political party, was also reported to have instigated protests against the peace agreement in Mali.

The businessman Mohamed Ben Ahmed Mahri has been quoted for funding arms groups through drug trafficking, with the control of the roads that cross northern Mali from Mauritania, the Burkina Faso and Niger.

The head of a humanitarian aid commission in Kidal, Ahmed Ag Albachar, was added to the list for exploiting a virtual monopoly of permits to help workers in exchange for money. .

France presented the five names on June 28, but the final decision was delayed after the US had asked for more time to resolve the bureaucratic problems.

France has demanded that the five individuals be struck by a freeze on badets, but the United States opposes it. This request should be referred to the Sanctions Committee, diplomats said.

The 2015 peace agreement failed to put an end to the violence of Islamist militants, who also staged attacks in Burkina Faso, Niger and against the country's peacekeeping forces. # 39; UN.