POLICE IN GAO FOIL ALLEGED ASSASSINATION PLOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 001356

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/26/2017
TAGS: ASEC PINR ML
SUBJECT: POLICE IN GAO FOIL ALLEGED ASSASSINATION PLOT

REF: BAMAKO 01175

Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1.(C) Summary: On November 8 security forces in the northern
city of Gao disrupted an alleged plot to assassinate the
Governor of Gao, the Algerian Consul resident in Gao, the
town's public prosecutor and the director of a Malian
government development program. Police arrested seven
individuals who allegedly belong to the former Patriotic
Gandakoy Movement, which was a largely Songhrai militia group
responsible for killing Tuaregs and others during the
rebellion of the 1990s. Reports indicate that the accused
may have been angered by the Malian government's decision to
negotiate with the Tuareg bandit Ibrahim Bahanga. End
Summary.

--------------
Plot Details
--------------

2.(C) Police arrested seven individuals in Gao on November 8
for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Governor of Gao,
the city's public prosecutor and the director of a Malian
government program to reintegrate ex-rebel combatants into
local society. Police reportedly seized six hand grenades,
three automatic pistols, some ammunition and canisters of a
substance described as "knock-out" gas. The arrested
individuals are Seydou Cisse, Mohamed N'Tissa Maiga, Bouba
Hangadoumbou Toure, Aliou Moussa, Mohamed Djougou, Soumeila
Seydou and Sidiya Mahamane. They are all ethnic Songhrai.
Malian officials claim the seven belong to the former
Patriotic Gandakoy Movement, or MPGK, a largely Songhrai
self-defense militia that clashed with Tuareg rebels and
others during the rebellion of the 1990s. Rumors of the
Gandakoy's reconstitution circulate periodically in Mali.
Former Gandakoy members or other individuals seeking to
revitalize the Gandakoy movement may be reacting to the
Malian government's decision to negotiate with the Tuareg
bandit Ibrahim Bahanga, who has held several dozen Malian
soldiers hostage for the past three months.

--------------
Plot Motives
--------------

3.(C) Motives for the assassination plot, if indeed such a
plot existed, remain obscure. Mohamed ag Akiline, the
Director of the Malian Agency for Northern Development (ADN),
linked the plot to Songhrai dissatisfaction over the Malian
government's decision to negotiate with Bahanga and other
Tuaregs. Ag Akiline is an ethnic Tuareg whose name figured
on the list of assassination targets. He said he may have
been targeted due to disagreement over ADN's distribution of
funds designed to help former rebel combatants reintegrate
into Malian society.

4.(C) Governor (and Army Colonel) Ahmed Baba Toure is
regarded as a close confident of President Amadou Toumani
Toure and recently traveled, along with the Governors of
Kidal and Timbuktu and the Minister of Territorial
Administration Kafougouna Kone, to Algiers for further
consultations on the Bahanga crisis. Like President Toure,
Governor Toure is believed to favor a peaceful, negotiated
settlement with Bahanga over a military solution.

5.(C) There are conflicting reports as to whether the
plotters intended to assassinate or kidnap the Algerian
Consul in Gao, Mohamed Bachir Babaci. The Algerian Consulate
is located in the Quartier Quatre neighborhood of Gao.
Babaci said Malian authorities told him he was the target of
an assassination plot. According to Ag Akiline, the plotters
intended to kidnap representatives of "countries friendly"
with Mali in order to negotiate directly with the Malian
government - a move apparently intended to mimic the strategy
of Bahanga. Babaci may have been targeted as a response to
Algeria's ambiguous role in resolving the Bahanga hostage
crisis and apparent support for Bahanga and other Tuareg
rebels (reftel).

6.(U) On November 15 the Bamako based newspaper
"L'Independent" published the text of a communique,
purportedly from Gandakoy leaders in Bamako, stating that
while the Gandakoy awaited further clarification from Malian
authorities regarding the supposed assassination plot, its
leaders "say no to government authorities' lenient treatment
of the so-called Tuareg rebellion."

-------------- --------------

BAMAKO 00001356 002 OF 002


Comment: Northern Mali's Forgotten Non-Tuareg Population
-------------- --------------

7.(C) Comment: While many Malians disagree with their
government's decision to negotiate with Bahanga - a man who
in addition to being a chronic military deserter is
responsible for several military and civilian deaths and the
introduction of land mines in northern Mali - most realize
that a comprehensive military solution is beyond the means of
the Malian military. Although details of the Gao plot remain
sparse, the incident may point to the broader risk of
negotiating with bandits like Bahanga and "rewarding"
violence with peace agreements, non-aggression pacts and
increased development aid. It also highlights the risk of
focusing solely on the development and political demands of
northern Mali's ethnic Tuaregs at the expense of non-Tuareg
groups like the Songhrai. Other groups, whether Songhrai in
northern Mali or different ethnic groups from elsewhere, have
taken note of the Tuaregs' success in wringing concessions
from the central government and may consider violent acts of
their own.
McCulley