Mali and the Sahel: The war is far from over
Posted: May 29, 2014 Filed under: Mali, The Sahel | Tags: Bamako, France, IBK, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Kidal, Mali, MINUSMA, Moussa Mara, Operation Serval, Sahel, Serval, Soumeylou Boybeye Maiga, Timbuktu, UN Leave a commentThe humiliation of Mali’s army and government is a rude reminder that the wider region is still a hive of instability
SEVEN weeks ago Moussa Mara was the rising star of Malian politics. Picked by Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the country’s president, to be prime minister at the age of 39, he had a reputation as a shrewd and capable administrator. An eventual rise to the top seemed possible. When he defied warnings on May 17th and visited Kidal, a hotbed of ethnic Tuareg separatism in the far north-east of the country, he was met by rebel gunfire. This made him a hero to the crowds in the capital, Bamako, for standing up to secessionists seeking to destroy the country’s unity (see map). Read the rest of this entry »
Hurry up, or it’ll be too late
Posted: March 21, 2014 Filed under: Mali | Tags: al-Mourabitoun, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar ed-Dine, Ansar Eddine, AQIM, AQMI, Arab Movement of Azawad, Azawad, Azawad People's Coalition, Bamako, CPA, IBK, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, MAA, Mali, MINUSMA, MNLA, National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, peace talks, Tuareg, UN 1 CommentAs Mali’s feuding parties dither, the extremists may get stronger again
IN THE lobby of Bamako’s El-Farouq hotel, Ould Mohamed Ousmane Omar, a middle-aged Malian Arab whose life has been one of exile, rebellion and plot, is gossiping about friends and enemies. Take the Tuareg rebels, whose 2012 rebellion precipitated the fall of northern Mali to al-Qaeda-linked extremists. “They’re only in it for their own gain,” he says, adjusting the white veil of his turban to reveal a wisp of goatee. Or Mali’s new government, which, he grimaces, “knows nothing—not the north, not the Tuareg, not the problems. It’s so easy to fool.” As for his own faction, the Arab Movement of Azawad (as some northern Malians call their homeland), Mr Omar can only lament that an international conspiracy to thwart its potency has cracked it down the middle. But then again, he says, few of his erstwhile colleagues were ever more than “second-class” and “drug dealers”. Read the rest of this entry »
Taken down a peg
Posted: December 5, 2013 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, coup, human rights, IBK, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Kati, Mali, Moussa Traoré, Red Berets, Sanogo Leave a commentA former coup leader is dragged to court
IT SEEMS unlikely that Amadou Sanogo will be remembered for much other than his incompetence. The Malian army captain bungled his way to power last year as leader of a coup, clearing the way for ethnic rebels and religious extremists to take over half the country. His clumsy posturing isolated Mali diplomatically and brought it close to ruin. Only popular discontent and bloodthirsty supporters lent the captain—a man of much ego and little talent—a measure of power. Until now. Read the rest of this entry »
Clinging to power
Posted: April 17, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Ansar Eddine, AQIM, Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, CNRDRE, Gao, human rights, Mali, military coup, MNLA, MUJWA, rape, Tuareg, UN Leave a commentEVERY morning a bus caked in dust pulls into Bamako bringing the latest rumours of war. Looking dazed and dehydrated after 24 hours on the road, Mohammad Maiga explains how Tuareg separatists and Islamist militants have turned his native Gao, northern Mali’s most populous town, into a ghost town. “Everyone is leaving,” says Mr Maiga. “There’s no food, no supplies.” Blackouts last all day. Banks and offices have been pillaged by rampant rebels. Read the rest of this entry »
Fall of Timbuktu to rebels prompts fears for historic treasures
Posted: April 2, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Alfred Lord Tennyson, Amadou Toumani Toure, Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, Gao, Kidal, Mali, military coup, MNLA, Timbuktu, Tuareg, UNESCO Leave a commentRebels in Mali completed their capture of the biggest population centres in the north of the country yesterday by taking the historic trading town of Timbuktu.
Its capitulation, eight days after a coup by junior officers in the capital, Bamako, which overthrew the democratically elected Government, marks the latest gain in a three-day advance by the Tuareg rebels. The junta said that it was seeking to negotiate a peace deal with the rebels and sent representatives to discuss a ceasefire.
The Tuareg forces, thought to be about 1,000, have exploited the uncertainty caused by the overthrow of the Government of President Amadou Toumani Touré, which has left the army with no clear chain of command. Read the rest of this entry »
The Fearsome Tuareg Uprising in Mali: Less Monolithic than Meets the Eye
Posted: March 31, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: al-Qaeda, Ansar Eddine, AQIM, Bamako, Gao, Iyad Ag Ghali, Kidal, Mali, MNLA, Tuareg Leave a comment
Tuareg rebels stand near a truck in Mali on March 19, 2012. DPA / LANDOV
The allegedly al-Qaeda-linked faction of the Tuareg rebellion in troubled Mali seems more of an opportunistic break than a real extension of the terror group
Somewhere close to the Algerian border a delegation of Tuareg notables hurried through the desert for a summit. It was mid-March and there was dissension among them. One of their own, a renegade desert warrior called Iyad ag Ghali, had just thrown the Tuaregs’ meticulously plotted rebellion against the Malian government into jeopardy. In proclamations appearing on YouTube, ag Ghali’s spokesman had done everything that the committee behind the two-month-old uprising by Tuareg rebels wanted to avoid. “It is our obligation to fight for the application of Shar’ia in Mali,” the spokesman said. The poisonous phrase, seized eagerly by a Malian government smarting from military defeat, undid months of careful political messaging. Now everyone would think the Tuareg were in bed with al-Qaeda. Read the rest of this entry »
Un-Welcoming the Presidents: The Mali Junta Digs In
Posted: March 29, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Ansar Eddine, AQIM, Bamako, Bamako international, Captain Amadou Sanogo, ECOWAS, Kidal, Mali, military coup, MNLA Leave a commentA contingent of regional leaders turns its plane away as the Mali Junta appears to solidify, learning how to spin and propagandize. But trouble looms
They pumped their fists in the air. “Shame on Africa,” they cried. And then the protesters swarmed across the runway at Bamako international, trampling over the red carpet laid out for visiting dignitaries. With a jet carrying presidents from five West Africa countries inbound, it was an eloquent statement of what many in Mali’s military junta think about international condemnation of their coup — even if the soldiers in charge didn’t explicitly order up the demonstration. Read the rest of this entry »
Mali à l’aise
Posted: March 29, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Amadou Toumani Toure, Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, CNRDRE, coup, Kati, Mali, MNLA, Tuareg Leave a commentMali’s coup leaders tighten their hold but inspire little confidence
IF ANYONE knows what is happening in Mali, it should be Captain Amadou Sanogo. Sliding forward on the shiny beige sofa into which he has sunk, he insists that things are moving “as I want. Moving as I prepared…allowing me to engage, to start with my processes.” Yet the 40-year-old officer with a sandpaper rasp seems to be putting a brave face on what looks, in fact, like an accidental coup that was almost invited by the government it toppled. Read the rest of this entry »
Mali’s Coup Leader: Interview with an Improbable Strongman
Posted: March 28, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Amadou Konare, Amadou Toumani Toure, AQIM, Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, CNRDRE, drugs trafficking, Kati, Mali, military coup Leave a commentCaptain Amadou Sanogo does not sound or look like the man in charge. But he is now the only show in town in a country beset by multiple crises
Under a sickle moon a large man with dreadlocks, a sparkling purple cloak and white moccasins climbed the stairs of the house that has become Mali’s new nerve-center. He was a marabout — a West Africa holy man — summoned by the 40-year-old army captain everyone in Kati is now calling le President. The new power in Mali is Amadou Sanogo, a career soldier whose improbable coup d’etat has upturned one of Africa’s strongest democracies. On Monday night he sought strength from the spirit world. He needs whatever help he can get. Read the rest of this entry »
Leader of military junta aims to restore Mali’s army
Posted: March 28, 2012 Filed under: Mali | Tags: Amadou Konare, Amadou Toumani Toure, Bamako, Captain Amadou Sanogo, CNRDRE, Kati, Mali, military coup Leave a commentThe leader of the military junta that seized power in Mali last week has told The Times that his priority is restoring the nation’s army, reeling after a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of Tuareg rebels, and turn it into a force for stability across West Africa’s Sahel region.
In an interview at his headquarters in the cantonment town of Kati, Captain Amadou Sanogo said that if he can “get a better life for my soldiers, I get a well-prepared army, I get a proficient army ready to serve my country, to serve the Sahel region”, he would consider his leadership a sucess.
However, as he was speaking about 1,000 protesters took to the streets of Bamako, the capital, chanting “Down with Sanogo” and demanding the restoration of democracy. Mali had been due to hold elections next month. Read the rest of this entry »
julius cavendish 