READOUT OF MEETINGS BETWEEN PRESIDENTS TOURE AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAMAKO 001365

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017
TAGS: ASEC PINR PREL PINS AL
SUBJECT: READOUT OF MEETINGS BETWEEN PRESIDENTS TOURE AND
BOUTEFLIKA

REF: BAMAKO 01015

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

1.(C) The president of the Tuareg rebel Alliance for
Democracy and Change (ADC),Iyad ag Ghali, told the Embassy
on November 28 that the November 24-25 meetings between
President Toure and the Algerian President Bouteflika
produced no breakthroughs in the standoff between Mali and
the Tuareg bandit Ibrahim Bahanga. Ag Ghali, who
participated in the talks in Algiers, described the situation
as somewhat better but said negotiations were bogged down
over the positioning of Malian military units and the
involvement of too many actors. In short, the positions of
the two sides have remained largely unchanged since the
crisis began in August, with President Toure and Bahanga
unable to reconcile demands for prerequisite steps.

2.(C) Algeria reportedly presented President Toure upon his
arrival in Algiers with a plan that envisaged the liberation
of Bahanga's hostages in return for official recognition of a
truce by the Malian government. Ag Ghali said that President
Toure rejected this proposal and insisted on the unilateral
release of the hostages as a prerequisite for subsequent
negotiations. Ag Ghali confirmed that President Toure did
not meet with Bahanga while in Algiers but said Bahanga met
with Kafougouna Kone, the Malian Minister of Territorial
Administration and a close confidant of President Toure.

3.(C) With no clear resolution to the crisis on the horizon,
ag Ghali said Algeria and Tuareg leaders were looking for an
alternative formula acceptable to both sides. Unfortunately,
the only aspect of this formula that has apparently been
identified is the continued role of Algeria as mediator. Ag
Ghali accompanied Bahanga to Tripoli prior to the meetings in
Algiers, but said that while Qadhafi pressured Bahanga to
release the hostages, Libya was disinclined to become
involved. Ag Ghali said that Bahanga would continue to rely
on the Algerians as mediators but only up to a point. If
nothing happens, said ag Ghali, "then we will see what we
will do."

4.(C) Ag Ghali repeatedly referred to Bahanga's position,
whether intentionally or not, as "our" position, as though
Bahanga's demands were shared by ag Ghali and the ADC. Ag
Ghali noted that Bahanga regards the 36 Malian soldiers he is
holding not as hostages but as prisoners of war captured on
the field of battle. Ag Ghali claimed that he had not asked
Bahanga where the hostages were located as he preferred to
avoid such direct questions. He also maintained that Bahanga
still knows the location of all of the unexploded land mines
he planted around Tinzawaten. A member of President Toure's
entourage, however, told the Embassy on November 28 that Mali
believed local citizens in Tinzawaten were in the process of
re-locating some of the mines.

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Comment: Algerian Mediation Fails to Deliver, Again
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5.(C) Although ag Ghali and other Tuareg leaders continue to
profess optimism over the eventual liberation of the
hostages, the positions of the Malian government and Bahanga
seem to be growing more entrenched by the day. The meetings
in Algiers do not appear to have produced any new
developments and may have reinforced Mali's frustration with
its neighbor to the north. President Toure and members of
his entourage have repeatedly stated that Mali believes the
Algerian security services in southern Mali are operating
outside of Bouteflika's control (reftel). One of President
Toure's confidants told the Embassy on November 28 that
President Toure would not ask Algeria to simply arrest
Bahanga - who continues to circulate freely within Algeria -
because Bouteflika was "lucid only five days per month" and
lacked the power to direct his security services to take
Bahanga into custody.
McCulley