Submit your comments on this article | ||||
Africa North | ||||
Mali rebels declare cease-fire after seizing north | ||||
2012-04-06 | ||||
Moussa Ag Assarid, a spokesman for the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, said the group was declaring the cease-fire to allow humanitarian aid to resume in the north, where shops were looted. In Ivory Coast, the military chiefs of the nations bordering Mali met Thursday to hash out their plan for a military intervention. Deputy Ivorian Defense Minister Paul Koffi Koffi said military action is being considered both to reverse the coup that deposed Mali's president last month, as well as to preserve Mali's territorial integrity after the rebel advance in the north. He instructed the army chiefs of the 15 nations in West Africa to draft a detailed plan, including how many troops each intends to send, how quickly they could ready them and what logistical means they plan to contribute.
The rebels launched their insurgency in January, saying they wanted to establish an independent Tuareg homeland in the north, known as the Azawad.
"The NMLA has reached the end of its military operations for the liberation of the territory of the Azawad," said Assarid, speaking by telephone from Paris. "Since the day before yesterday when our units reached Douentza which we consider to be the frontier of the Azawad," he said, referring to a town some 600 kilometers (375 miles) from Bamako, "the military offensive is declared over." Assarid's group is the largest rebel group involved in the offensive, but it is not the only one, and in the three main towns in the north, local officials say they cannot be sure which of the rebel armies has the upper hand. Western observers have expressed concern over the presence of an Islamist faction called Ansar Dine, which planted its ominous black flag in all three of the provincial capitals. This week, the group announced it was imposing Sharia law in the ancient city of Timbuktu. The mayor of Timbuktu said nearly all of the estimated 300 Christians based in the city fled after Ansar Dine's spiritual chief Iyad Ag Ghali gave an interview on local radio outlining the tenets of Sharia law: Women are to be covered at all times, thieves will have their hands cut off and adulterers will be stoned. "The problem for us is that we don't know who is the master of our town," said the mayor, Ousmane Halle, who explained that the Islamist faction had taken over the city's military camp, while the secular rebels were stationed at the airport. "What I deplore is the departure of the Christian community," he said. The city has been honored as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its collection of ancient Islamic manuscripts, propagating a moderate interpretation of the religion. "Many said to me that they are obliged to leave," he said. "And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And these are people that have lived side by side with us for centuries." Once a diplomat assigned to Mali's consulate in Saudi Arabia,
The imposition of Sharia has worried analysts and country watchers. Besides Timbuktu, the Ansar Dine faction is accused of destroying bars in Gao and Kidal, and of forcing shopkeepers there to take down pictures of unveiled women. On Thursday, gunmen seized seven workers from Algeria's consulate in Gao. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told the state news agency Thursday the group was forced to leave the consulate and taken to an unknown location. He added that the government was mobilized to ensure their release as soon as possible. In Abidjan, where the military chiefs were meeting, the head of Ivory Coast's army said that the possible link between the rebels and terrorism is reason enough for a possible military intervention. "The advance of the National Liberation Movement of Azawad, associated with terrorist groups like AQIM and Ansar Dine and others, gives sufficient reason to the entire region to be put on notice," said Gen. Soumaila Bakayoko. | ||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#2 Latest MSM-Net Reports says INDEPENDENCE, not just a "ceasefire". |
Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-04-06 21:27 |
#1 So like these a$$holes to say "Okay we won (for now) so everybody has to stop shooting." Let's see what Obamanation says about this next opportunity to distract the US from his ongoing disaster. |
Posted by: AlanC 2012-04-06 06:23 |