Mali, Tuareg rebels sign historic peace agreement

Mali, Tuareg rebels sign historic peace agreement

Published 22 June 2015

 

The Tuareg-led rebel coalition in northern Mali on Saturday signed a historic agreement with the government of Mali to end decades of conflict and war between the independence-seeking Tuareg and the central government in Bamako. Since 1960, when Mali gained its independence from France, the Tuareg launched four bloody wars in an effort to gain their independence, but were defeated each time. The pact signed Saturday between the Tuareg and the Mali government was brokered by Algeria – it is called the Algiers Accord – and it aims to bring stability to the country’s northern region.

The Tuareg-led rebel coalition in northern Mali on Saturday signed a historic agreement with the government of Mali to end decades of conflict and war between the independence-seeking Tuareg and the central government in Bamako.
Since 1960, when Mali gained its independence from France, the Tuareg launched four bloody wars in an effort to gain their independence, but were defeated each time.
In November 2011, following the fall of Col. Muammar Qaddafi in neighboring Libya, many Tuareg tribesmen who served in Qaddafi’s private militias, took their arms and moved back to their home areas in north Mali. There they joined a small Islamist movement called Ansar Dine, and begun, again, to agitate for Tuareg independence.
Their opportunity came in March 2012: on 22 March, a group of military officers in Bamako staged a military coup against the civilian government. In the confusion and chaos which followed, the combined forces of the Tuareg and Ansar Dine easily chased the Mali army out of north Mali, and in April 2013 declared the creation of the independent Republic of Azawad in north Mali.
Azawad was the size of France, but with a tiny population of only 1.6 million. The break-away Azawad was initially ruled by an uneasy alliance of Tuareg tribesmen and an Islamists of Ansar Dine, but within weeks the Islamists took over, kicking the Tuareg soldiers out of Azawad, imposing a strict sharia law, destroying cultural sites – some recognized by the UN as world heritage sites — and driving a quarter of the population out of the break-away region.
In January 2013 the Islamists began to drive south toward the capital Bamako. France decided that enough was enough, and sent its air force and 4,000 soldiers to evict the Islamists from north Mali. The French expeditionary force was joined by a UN-approved regional force of 3,000, led by the army of neighboring Niger.
By March 2013 the war was over, with the Islamists either dead or dispersed, and later that spring Mali was reunited.
The pact signed Saturday between the Tuareg and the Mali government was brokered by Algeria – it is called the Algiers Accord – and it aims to bring stability to the country’s northern region.
The BBC reports that the first draft of the agreement had already been signed on 15 May by the government and several of the Tuareg militias active in north Mali – but the most powerful Tuareg rebel groups, all members of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) coalition, insisted on amendments to the draft.
On Saturday, the leader of the CMA, Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, signed the document on behalf of the CMA in a televised ceremony in Bamako.
“Trust me — we will make sure that no one is disappointed. We will build a brotherly Mali together,” President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita told a the audience of diplomats, Tuareg leaders, and Mali politicians.
“Today is a great day for all us children of Mali.”
Ramtane Lamamra, the foreign minister of Algeria, hailed “a new beginning, a new opportunity and a new destiny for this great Malian nation.”
The deal signed on Saturday calls for the creation of elected regional assemblies, but does not offer autonomy or federalism for northern Mali, which locals call Azawad.
The negotiators were able to persuade the rebel groups which were part of the CMA to sign the agreement after promising them that their members would be included in a security force for the north, and that residents of Azawad would be represented better in government institutions.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon welcomed the pact and pledged his support for its implementation.
“The ultimate responsibility for peace lies with Mali and the Malians, and the Secretary-General urges all parties to continue to work in good faith to advance progress, and to fully implement the provisions of the ceasefire,” his spokesman said in a statement.
Mongi Hamdi, the head of MINUSMA, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, warned, though, that there would still be “moments of doubt and discouragement, tensions and distrust” on the path to peace.
“The international community will always be with you but cannot make peace for you,” he said, urging the opposing sides to show “good faith and goodwill” in implementing the accord.
The Algiers Accord notwithstanding, Mali is deeply divided, as it has since independence. The Tuareg and Arab populations of the north have argued since 1960 that the sub-Saharan ethnic groups in the country’s more prosperous south have been marginalizing them.
Mahamadou Djeri Maiga, a CMA spokesman, said international mediation efforts had “paid off” but warned that the hard work lay ahead.
“We are for peace, but what we want is that the agreement is actually implemented on the ground,” he told AFP.
“Everyone must respect its commitments… We want peace, we don’t want what has happened with previous agreements.”
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is traveling to Bamako today (Monday) to support the peace agreement, a member of his entourage announced.
“He is going there to demonstrate the presence and support of France for the agreement, which is indispensable for the return of peace and development in Mali,” a source in the French Defense Ministry said.