Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAMAKO256
2008-03-11 15:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:  

BAHANGA RELEASES PRISONERS AFTER QUIET NEGOTIATIONS

Tags:  PREL PGOV ML 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1767
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0256/01 0711542
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111542Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8877
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0388
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000256 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV ML
SUBJECT: BAHANGA RELEASES PRISONERS AFTER QUIET NEGOTIATIONS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00957

B. 06 BAMAKO 00208

Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000256

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV ML
SUBJECT: BAHANGA RELEASES PRISONERS AFTER QUIET NEGOTIATIONS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00957

B. 06 BAMAKO 00208

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

1.(C) The leader of the Mali-Niger Tuareg Alliance (MNTA)
Ibrahim ag Bahanga released his 22 remaining hostages on
March 8 in return for perhaps as much as 5 million Euros from
the Libyan government. While the quantity of the supposed
payout was derived from a single Embassy source and remains
uncorroborated a March 8 official communique from the Malian
Presidency recognized Libyan President Qadhafi "for brotherly
actions that significantly contributed to ending this
crisis." Seven of the 22 hostages were liberated in Kidal.
The remaining fifteen hostages were released in Tripoli. The
MNTA apparently transported the hostages from Tinzawaten in
northern Mali, where they were captured in August 2007 (Ref
A),by road. They were scheduled to return by air to Gao,
Mali, on March 10. President Amadou Toumani Toure has
reportedly already traveled to Gao to welcome their arrival.

2.(C) Last week Iyad ag Ghali, the leader of the Tuareg
rebel Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC),and the Libyan
Consul General in Bamako, Moussa Koni, met with Bahanga in
Tinzawaten. Koni presided over Libya's short-lived and
highly controversial consulate in Kidal in early 2006 (Ref
B). Although we have yet to corroborate the terms of the
agreement with Bahanga, one Embassy contact reported that ag
Ghali and Koni passed approximately 5 million Euros to
Bahanga.

3.(C) The ag Ghali - Koni - Bahanga meeting was notable
because it involved only these three individuals operating in
relative silence. Previous negotiation teams have involved
many more Tuareg leaders. Following ag Ghali and Koni's
meeting with Bahanga, a larger and more public delegation of
Tuareg leaders traveled from Kidal to meet with Bahanga,
apparently to provide a semblance of cover for the real
negotiating team that consisted of ag Ghali and Koni.

4.(C) The second delegation also contained no notable
leaders from the Kidal Ifoghas tribe - a point that
reinforces the suspicion that the real deal was concluded by
ag Ghali and Koni. Contacts in northern Mali report that
President Amadou Toumani Toure charged the Governor of Kidal,
Al Hamdou ag Illyen, and Mohamed ag Erlaf, to arrange the
second delegation of Tuaregs after ag Ghali and Koni finished
their discussions with Bahanga. The second delegation
included the following individuals:
-- Ghousmane ag Ahmed, a less well known Iforas from the
Kel Taghlit fraction
-- Zeid ag Hamzata, a Taghat Melet leader, Kel Telabit
fraction
-- Abdoussalam ag Assalat, another Taghat Melet, Kel
Telabit fraction, ADC member, president of the Kidal Chamber
of Commerce
-- Meti ag Mohamed Rhissa, a Taghat Melet, Kel Telabit
fraction, a customs officer in Segou
-- Attaher ag Inguida, Taghat Melet, from the Kel Oukenek
fraction, local Chief in Edjerer
-- Choghib ag Attaher, an Idnane from the Talkast
fraction, Chief in Eghacher-Sadiden
-- Mohamad ag Erlaf, an Idnane from the Talkast fraction,
Director of Malian Agency for Local Investment (ANICT)
-- Eghless ag Foni, an Idnane from the Talkast fraction,
former Governor of Kidal, now retired
-- Baba Ould Sidi Elmoghtar, local Chief of Kounta Arabs
in Kidal region
-- Abanassa ag Saghid, an Imghad fraction Chief in Kidal
-- Iswaden ag Saghid, an Imghad from Kidal, formerly
employed at Kidal Governor's office
-- Ghissa ag Ghatbo, former mayoral candidate from Kidal,
belongs to a sub-fraction of the Ifoghas/Kel Telabit
-- Ahmouden ag Ikmas, an Imghad working at Kidal
Governor's office

5.(C) COMMENT. Hopefully this will defuse, at least in the
short term, the current round of instability in northern Mali
and re-focus the spotlight on the implementation of the
Algiers Accords. Such a large payout to Bahanga, however,
could encourage other actors - provided the payoff actually
occurred - to engage in similar activities. The payout to
Bahanga and implication of Libya may also irritate Algeria.
While many in Mali blame the Algerians for aiding and
encouraging Bahanga, Algeria has consistently presented
itself as the viable negotiator for northern Mali. By
securing the release of the hostages, Libya may have once
again bought itself a place at northern Mali's roundtable.

BAMAKO 00000256 002 OF 002


MCCULLEY