UN peacekeepers take over from African troops in Mali

United Nations soldiers will take over from African troops in conflict-scarred Mali from Monday, making up the organisation's third-largest peacekeeping force by the end of the year.
A 12,600-strong force will take over security duties from French troops who entered Mali in January to halt an Islamist advance and help the government re-establish its authority over the vast country.
France is winding down its deployment from its peak of nearly 4,500 but is to keep up to 1,000 troops in Mali and they will maintain responsibility for military strikes against the Islamists.
"Security conditions are satisfactory, no major attack has been recorded against the Malian and African forces, and most important, despite what certain people feared, the political process has experienced a very positive evolution," France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud said, welcoming the handover.

Rwandan General Jean-Bosco Kazura, formerly second in command of African Union troops in Sudan's western Darfur region, will lead the force.
The majority of his soldiers will be Africans already stationed in Mali but China has offered to supply more than 500 troops in what would be its biggest contribution to UN peacekeeping.

Sweden will send around 70 troops for a maximum of one year while Norway is to contribute 25 soldiers and police.
Bangladesh is thought to have offered the largest non-African contingent of up to 1,000 troops although no deal has yet been confirmed.
Araud said the French government would start reducing the 3,200 troops currently in Mali from the end of August.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has raised fears that the peacekeepers could face guerrilla attacks and has highlighted the lack of equipment and training among the West African troops already in Mali.
Armed militias "retain the capability to pose a significant threat" and "still have support networks and recruitment structures in place", Ban said in a report published on June 9.
The UN mission is due to play a key role in presidential polls announced for July 28 but the election commission has raised doubts over its ability to stage a free and fair vote with such short notice.
The commission's president Mamadou Diamountani said this week it would be "extremely difficult" to get up to eight million voting cards to the electorate in a country where 500,000 people have been displaced by conflict.