The Sun Daily and others reported on 10th July that the UN Security Council has added 5 Mali nationals to the sanctions blacklist including a businessman accused of drug trafficking and a local official who allegedly profited from aid projects. The sanctions are aimed at shoring up a 2015 peace deal to restore stability to Mali following a brief Islamist takeover in the north. Houka Houka Ag AlHousseni is an influential Islamist in Timbuktu; Mahri Sidi Amar Ben Daha is described as a high-ranking officer in the Islamic police that ran Gao in 2012-2013; Mohamed Ould Mataly is a member of parliament from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s political party who has allegedly instigated demonstrations against the Mali peace accord; businessman Mohamed Ben Ahmed Mahri is cited for funding arms groups through drug trafficking, with control over routes that cross northern Mali from Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger; and the head of a humanitarian aid commission in Kidal, Ahmed Ag Albachar, was added to the list for exploiting a near-monopoly on permits to aid workers in exchange for money.
https://www.thesundaily.my/world/five-mali-nationals-added-to-un-sanctions-blacklist-ML1085853
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