BAMAKO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- South Africa has released 7 million euros to help Mali improve the security and food situation in the northern region, where the West African country is facing rebellion and refugee challenges.
South Africa's International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane unveiled the support in the Malian capital Bamako at the 314th summit of the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council opened on Tuesday.
During a meeting, Mashabane conveyed to Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure a message of goodwill and support from South African President Jacob Zuma.
"I came to deliver a message of solidarity and support from the South African people and from President Zuma to the Malian people and to his counterpart President Toure," she said.
The minister hailed the organization of the meeting, holding confidence that it will help to address the security situation in northern Mali and the entire Sahel-Saharan region.
She reiterated her country's determination to assist Mali in this difficult period and in the organization of the 2012 general elections.
Northern Mali has been the theater of deadly confrontations between the separatist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the government forces since Jan. 17.
The flare has caused more than 100 casualties and the displacement of tens of thousands of people, of whom many are taking shelter in neighboring countries such as Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger.
The MNLA was formed on Oct. 16, 2011, after the regrouping of Tuareg rebels, of whom many reportedly returned from Libya with military equipment including portable missile systems. They used to be employed by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as mercenaries.
The MNLA is the latest formation of the rebel movement seeking independence of an Azawad land comprising three northern regions of Timbuktoo, Gao and Kidal.
Tuareg is a nomadic community of 1.5 million people across the southern edge of the Sahara desert, or the Sahel region, in countries like Algeria, Burkina Faso, Libya, Niger and Mali.
Tuareg rebels have launched repeated uprisings since Mali's independence from France in 1960.
