ABUJA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- France on Thursday solicited the cooperation of Nigeria in ending the lingering crisis in Mali, Jean Palanon, France Special Envoy to Nigeria, has said. Palanon disclosed the information to reporters after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, the West African country capital city, adding that Nigeria's assistance was crucial to ending the crisis in Mali.
The adoption of resolution 20/85 at the Security Council opened a new face in handling of the Mali crisis, he added.
"The French president wished to crave a very strong signal that the cooperation between France and Nigeria was essential to finding solutions to the Mali crisis," the French envoy told reporters.
"When it comes to the practicalities, as you know we are now embarking on double track approach which, in fact, was suggested by ECOWAS, a political and military approach, and we must ensure that the two progress on balance," he said.
Palanon said the meeting with Jonathan discussed extensively how to accelerate the political process in stabilizing and finding the best way to a smooth transition in Mali.
He told reporters that they also discussed the agreement between the North and the South as well as the political process.
Earlier, the Minister of Foreign Affair II, Nurudeen Mohammed, had said the meeting was principally on the crisis in Mali.
Mohammed said the meeting looked at ways where the two countries could come together, rob minds and achieve convergence of opinion with a view to finding solutions to the problem.
