Germany suspends part of Mali military mission over flight spat

Germany suspended its military reconnaissance mission in Mali after local authorities again withheld a flight clearance, a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said on Friday.

Germany suspended its military reconnaissance mission in Mali after local authorities again withheld a flight clearance, a spokesperson for the defence ministry in Berlin said on Friday. Berlin has deployed some 1,000 troops to Mali, most of them near the northern town of Gao where their main task is to gather reconnaissance for the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINUSMA.

"We will, at least for the time being, suspend the reconnaissance part of mission," the spokesperson said, adding that Malian authorities had not issued the clearance for a flight to rotate some staff. Mali had already at the start of August withdrawn clearances for German flights over the country but later reversed that decision.