News Story: Trump budget proposal kills Obama's counterterrorism partnerships fund

By: Joe Gould

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s budget announced Tuesday proposes an end to President Obama’s signature counterterrorism training program, long criticized on Capitol Hill as too broad to be effective. 

The White House proposal would zero out the Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund, from $1.8 billion in fiscal 2017. CTPF, billed as a means to provide security assistance to moderate allies fighting extremists in Africa and the Mideast, endured successive cuts in Congress and criticism Obama was too light on strategy and specifics for Congress's liking. 

The Trump administration does propose $1.8 billion for a Counter-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Train and Equip Fund — a continuation of three accounts consolidated in the 2017 budget Congress passed earlier this month. That fund is meant to support Iraqi government forces as they retake Mosul, Iraq, and vetted Syrian forces as they retake Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State group. The proposed funding is under the off-budget overseas contingency operations (OCO) account.

Obama, in 2014, announced the CTPF in a speech at U.S. Military Academy at West Point commencement, as a means to “more effectively partner with countries where terrorist networks seek a foothold.” He envisioned a fund of up to $5 billion, to “allow us to train, build capacity, and facilitate partner countries on the front lines” of Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Mali and beyond, he said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: China dispatches 5th peacekeeping force to Mali

DALIAN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A team of 190 officers and soldiers Tuesday departed from northeast China's Dalian for a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali.

The team is part of China's 395-strong fifth peacekeeping force to Mali, which consists of security personnel, military engineers, and medical staff.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Cambodia sends 4th batch of 309 troops to Mali for peacekeeping mission

PHNOM PENH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia sent the fourth batch of 309 troops, including 25 females, to join a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the conflict-torn West African nation of Mali on Tuesday, officials said.

The troops would replace the third batch, whose one-year term had come to an end, said Gen. Pol Saroeun, Commander-In-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), during a sending-off ceremony held at the capital's Military Airbase.

The peacekeepers are divided into two groups. One will be responsible for airport repairs and maintenance and the other will be in charge of explosive ordnance disposal.

"It's a high risk mission in Mali due to ongoing armed conflicts and a threat from terrorism," he said, advising the troops to be extra vigilant.

Gen. Saroeun also told the group to strictly comply with the UN discipline and the RCAF rule when they perform their duties in Mali.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Chinese peacekeeping contingent ends its mission in Mali

BAMAKO, May 24 (Xinhua) -- China's contribution to peace and stability in Mali has been hailed at the end of the mission of its third contingent of 395 peacekeepers that it deployed to the West African nation.

"Chinese peacekeepers have boarded a plane back to China, happy that they have accomplished their mission of supporting Mali in restoring peace," a statement from the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said Monday.

They have been replaced by peacekeepers of the fourth contingent.

Mohamed El-Amine Souef, head of the UN mission in northern Mali town of Gao, gave each of the departing peacekeepers a "certificate of appreciation" for the contribution they made in the last 12 months in Gao region, the statement revealed.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Editorial: China-Mali Relations After the Bamako Attacks

By Benjamin David Baker

Chinese companies have a surprisingly large stake in Mali. How could this relationship unfold in the future?

There has been some speculation that China might be losing some of its oomph in Africa. According to Xinhua, Chinese investments on the continent have fallen by 40 percent in 2015. This has been due to a number of reasons, “including the slack global economic recovery, international commodity price fluctuations and the Ebola outbreak,” according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) spokesman Shen Danyang.

While the MOC is optimistic that these figures will recover by 2020, Chinese businesses and citizens are facing another kid of threat as well. As both Shannon Tiezzi and myself have reported for The Diplomat, Chinese citizens recently been killed in Syria and Mali by jihadist terrorists.

The three Chinese citizens murdered at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako raise some interesting issues for Beijing’s engagement with Mali. All three, plus another four Chinese citizens who were rescued from the hotel, were senior employees with the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), a state-owned firm.

This is indicative of China’s presence in the region. Both CRCC and the China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) are involved in massive infrastructural projects in and around the region. Mali has been trying to diversify its economy from the exports of its natural resources, notably gold. A crucial part of this involves investments into Mali’s fledgling railways system. Considering Mali’s landlocked geographical position, this is especially urgent with regards to extending and repairing its rail links to the surrounding coastal states of Senegal and Guinea.

Read the full story at The Diplomat