Army, rebels truce extended
2007-09-03 13:53
Bamako - A truce between Mali's army and Tuareg rebels who kidnapped dozens of troops in the north of the country has been extended as the mediator seeks a hostage release, says a source close to the talks.
Iyad Ag Ghaly, an ex-Tuareg rebel in the west African nation whose group had signed a peace deal with the government, on Saturday began mediating talks with dissidents led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga aimed at freeing the soldiers.
A source close to Ag Ghaly said: "Negotiations are continuing. We cannot give details, but the mediator has obtained an extension of the truce."
Ag Ghaly was able to negotiate the truce itself before leaving Bamako for the north on August 30. He then directly contacted the desert raiders who carried out their surprise attacks on August 26 and 27.
30 soldiers remain in captors' hands
Mali's government believed the group led by Ag Bahanga, who had refused to go along with the peace deal agreed by the majority of former rebels from the Tuareg tribes, was co-operating with Niger-based militants to launch attacks.
Ag Bahanga warned last week, after he captured about 40 soldiers, that such attacks would go on until the Tuareg leader was guaranteed freedom of movement and from pursuit in the northern Kidal region.
At least 30 soldiers remained in the kidnappers' hands, after nine were freed by the army and three escaped. The source said: "Some (of the hostages) have been wounded, but not seriously."
Ag Ghaly initially went to "the sector, where Ibrahim Ag Bahanga is", said the source, without details, then to "Tinzaoutene, near the Algerian border, where the regular army troops are stationed".
Tuareg tribes 'indigenous Berber people'
On Monday, he was due again to meet with the rebel group to try to free the hostages.
The latest uprising in Mali came in the wake of a serious Tuareg insurgency that erupted last February in neighbouring Niger's highland Agadez region and was still underway.
The Tuareg tribes were an indigenous Berber people who for centuries lived a nomadic life roaming the southern Sahara desert in landlocked present-day Mali and Niger and their north African neighbours, Libya and Algeria.
Since independence, governments had been keen to extend their authority over the Tuaregs, but terms set by militant leaders from such tribes stretch the resources of nations that were among the poorest on the planet.
After an uprising in May 2006, many of Mali's Tuaregs cut a deal with the government the following July, with Algerian help and in exchange for aid to develop their territory.
In Niger, they wanted a share in the country's revenue from uranium.