Touareg capture Timbuktu as Mali junta restores constitution

2012-04-02

Coup leaders in Mali are struggling to maintain control in the wake of a Touareg victory and the threat of regional sanctions.

By Jemal Oumar for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 02/04/12

[Jemal Oumar] With the fall of Timbuktu, Touareg independence fighters now control the entire Malian territory known as Azaouad.

Touareg fighters captured the city of Timbuktu on Saturday (April 1st), the last town under Malian government control in the northern region of Azaouad.

The fall of Timbuktu threatens to split Mali into two, with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azaouad (MNLA) also controlling the regions of Gao, Kidal, areas claimed by Touareg rebels seeking an independent state.

"We are now in full control of the Azaouad territory, with its three cities, after its liberation from Malian army control," said MNLA fighter Mouhi Ag Boulkhey, known as "Kabo", the officer in now in charge of Timbuktu airport.

"We seized a lot of heavy weapons and will proceed to form a council for direct governance of daily organisation of the lives of residents through the modality of democracy," Ag Boulkhey told Magharebia. "We reject any dialogue with the Malian authorities."

The Touareg victory is just the latest woe for coup leaders in Bamako, who on Sunday pledged to restore Mali's 1992 constitution under the threat of sanctions from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

ECOWAS had given the insurrectionists 72 hours to restore legitimacy or face tough diplomacy in the form of freezing their assets, preventing them from traveling to West African countries, suspending economic aid, as well as closing their borders to land-locked Mali. The bloc had also threatened military action, putting a peacekeeping force on alert.

West African states are scheduled to meet in Dakar on Monday to make a decision on whether to close their borders to Mali and cut it off from the regional central bank.

As the Touaregs advanced, coup leader Amadou Sanogo appealed to the international community to maintain Mali territorial unity.

"Our army needs help from the friends of Mali to save the civilian population and to maintain Mali's territorial integrity," Sanogo said.

At the same time, he expressed readiness to make new concessions to ECOWAS, saying: "The Military Council recognises the position of ECOWAS, but we urge them to reconsider the plight of landlocked Mali. We are ready for possible solutions."

But the leaders of West African states have made any assistance contingent on the return of legitimacy.

"ECOWAS has a military force 2,000 men strong, and we have equipment," said Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who currently holds the ECOWAS presidency. "We asked the international community to support us and support Mali, where if it restored legitimacy and the armed movements recognised there is regional and international mobilisation, they would leave Kidal immediately."

"We must preserve the territorial integrity of Mali, whatever the price," Ouattara added. "We must succeed because if Mali divides and breaks up, it would be a bad example."

In the same vein, the Burkinabe presidency announced that a Mali military delegation arrived in Ouagadougou on Saturday to meet with President Blaise Compaore, chosen by ECOWAS as an intermediary in the Malian crisis.

Meanwhile, Touaregs fighting under the MNLA banner claimed to have taken a number of Malian soldiers prisoner in their latest push. "Touareg fighters also managed to seize a large number of weapons and heavy artillery," according to Mohamed al-Amin Ould Ahmed, MNLA Assistant Secretary-General.

The cities of Gao and Kidal have been under Touareg control since Saturday (March 31st). MNLA fighter Mohamed Ag Chiteh, known as Kibo, told Magharebia, "The situation now in Kidal is under the joint control of the Harakat Ansar al-Din, whose influence extends over the western and northern sides, while MNLA controls the eastern and southern sides, and organisation of people's lives will begin soon to return them to normal."

The fighter added he was unaware of any power sharing arrangement between the Islamist group and the more secular MNLA.

Journalist Osman Ag Mohamed Osman told Magharebia that it was premature to discuss any future scenario regarding Azaouad. "I personally do not expect there to be confrontations or differences between Harakat Ansar al-Din, which calls for Islamic law, and the MNLA, because their differences mainly depend on the tribal dimension and not the dogmatic dimension."

Regarding the alleged connection between Harakat Ansar al-Din and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Osman stated that "the alliance between them and al-Qaeda may have strategic objectives at this time only and will end in the near future."

This content was commissioned for Magharebia.com.

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محمد سيد محمد Posted 2012-04-03

Residents in the region aren’t sorry for the departure of the ousted regime because of its evil legacy in the region. This shows its evil intentions towards these regions depending on Azaouad where there is no single paved way linking the most important region and its surroundings. It is the city of Timbuktu. It was left to be swallowed by sands let alone total absence of the infrastructure in the infrastructure of all the three main cities and total absence of transportation routes between them. It is possible that you will need long days to cover a distance not exceeding 400 to 500 km. It is the longest distance between the cities in the region. Although Mali gained independence fifty years ago and these Azaouad regions have been exploited for the same period. However, in spite of all this we are worried about instability in the region or that we are forced into mazes within the game of the big.

jidou pine wavy Posted 2012-04-03

In order to avoid the worst, we have to put out the volcano before it erupts. As a blogger of authenticity in Sahara, I advise my African brothers both white and black to work together for co-existence, it is necessary. I would remind my brothers in the sister republic of Mali, in particular that the north has been out of control for a long time to the point that it has become an evil stronghold. We also address the international community by asking them to mark the border between brothers to avoid bloodshed especially for Hebraic including the Jewish and those who embraced Islam.

Anonymous Posted 2012-04-29

The tragic situation in Mali is an extension of the war in Libya. It is the predictable and sought after result. Foreign interference is the cause of the situation in Mali and of all of the destabilising conflicts in the African states. Who is profiting from this crime?

Bouba Posted 2012-11-16

We must avoid shouting “Victory!” too quickly. The future will tell us whom the territories in question belong to. What’s more, I don’t think that taking up arms will be what the community centres itself around. With what is going on in northern Mali in 2012, even in the case that there’s a return to peace, a life of harmony between communities is more shaken than ever that others can’t understand pardoning and tolerating the people who forever take up arms, and everyone is seeing the Tuaregs’ relentlessness in destroying Gao and Timbuktu as opposed to Kidal. The future will tell.

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