A C-130 U.S. Air Force plane lands as Nigerien soldiers stand in formation during the Flintlock military exercise in Diffa, Niger March 8, 2014. REUTERS/Joe Penney/File Photo
Reuters: U.S. wants Sahel force strategy before giving money: officials
KINSHASA (Reuters) - The United States strongly supports an African military force to combat extremist militants in the Sahel region, but needs to see a strategy for the operation before it considers funding, the U.S. envoy to the United Nations and the U.S. Africa commander said.
Washington is wary, however, of the 193-member United Nations funding the force - to be made up of troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania - according to Ambassador Nikki Haley and General Thomas Waldhauser.
The United States currently funds more than a quarter of the $7.3 billion U.N. peacekeeping budget.
Haley said Washington wanted to know “what the strategy would be, how they see this playing out, what’s involved in it before we ever commit to U.N.-assessed funding.”
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WNU Editor: This demand for a strategy, how it will play out, and what's involved ..... I call this common sense. Let us see if the UN can deliver.
