From: Office of Terje Rod-Larsen Sent Tue 11/20/2012 12:05:08 AM Subject• IPI Regional Insights - November 2012 INTERNATIONAL PEACE INSTITUTE IPI Regional Insights November 2012 The International Peace Institute's (IPI) Regional Insights covers select regional and thematic developments based on information from a variety of sources. It draws on the research of IPI experts and is provided exclusively to major donors and members. Each monthly issue covers challenges and opportunities related to international peace, security, and development. Africa Mali: Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted a harmonized concept of operations (CONOPs) for the deployment of an African-led international force in Mali, at an extraordinary summit held on November 1 I th in Abuja, Nigeria. The United Nations Security Council requested the concept of operations as a prerequisite to agreeing to support an international military force, based on the Malian transitional authorities' request for forces to assist with recovering the occupied territories in northern Mali. Developed by military experts from ECOWAS, the African Union (AU), the European Union, the UN, and other partners, the CONOPs was endorsed by the AU Peace and Security Council on November 13th and will shortly come before the Security Council. The plan includes an agreement from ECOWAS leaders to commit 3,300 troops for one year. The troops would come mostly from Nigeria, Niger, and Burkina Faso, as well as other West African countries and some non-African states. Core countries from the Sahel-Sahara region—including Algeria, Mauritania, Chad, Libya, and Morocco—also attended the Abuja summit. Algeria, Egypt, and Mauritania continued to express reservations about a military intervention, raising concerns about its humanitarian consequences, the risk of terrorism spreading to Mali's neighboring countries, and further staffing an already severe development deficit in