BRUSSELS - The European Union has no plans
to give any combat role to its upcoming military training
mission in Mali, an EU foreign policy spokesman said on Monday,
following France's intervention in the sub-Saharan state against
al-Qaida-linked Islamists last week.
The European Union plans to speed up preparations to send
military trainers for the Malian army. This
mission is now expected to start in late February or early
March.
But the format of the mission will not be changed for now,
spokesman Michael Mann told a daily briefing. When asked whether
he could rule out a combat mission by the European Union, he
said: "Yes, I can."