Nigeria rallies African countries to confront terrorists in Mali

NIGERIA has secured the commitment of a number of African countries to send troops to participate as part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)-led intervention force now battling Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants in Northern Mali.
Countries outside West Africa, including South Africa, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania as well as Chad, have agreed to send troops to assist in the effort to curtail the spread of terrorism from Mali, following a meeting with a Federal Government delegation led by the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia over the weekend at the sidelines of the ongoing African Union (AU) Summit.
The minister, who briefed journalists on the outcome of the meetings with the various countries’ delegations, including the United Kingdom’s Foreign Minister on African Affairs, Henry Bellingham, disclosed that Nigeria campaigned for the need for the crisis is Mali not to be seen as a regional problem, but one with likely consequences outside the sub region, if not controlled. 
“Interestingly, nearly all the countries we have had meetings with on the sidelines of this AU Summit have been very forthcoming. They are all supportive of the leadership that Nigeria has shown,” he said.
They are supportive of our efforts in Mali. They are supportive of what ECOWAS is doing to assemble an immediate force,” he said.