Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAMAKO624
2008-07-03 15:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:  

NEGOTIATING THE NEGOTIATIONS: ALGERIA PRIMES

Tags:  ASEC PINS PINR PREL ML 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9509
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0624/01 1851530
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031530Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9398
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0456
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/COMSOCEUR VAIHINGEN GE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000624 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2018
TAGS: ASEC PINS PINR PREL ML
SUBJECT: NEGOTIATING THE NEGOTIATIONS: ALGERIA PRIMES
MALIANS AND TUAREG REBELS FOR TALKS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00567

B. BAMAKO 00305

C. BAMAKO 00482

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 000624

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2018
TAGS: ASEC PINS PINR PREL ML
SUBJECT: NEGOTIATING THE NEGOTIATIONS: ALGERIA PRIMES
MALIANS AND TUAREG REBELS FOR TALKS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00567

B. BAMAKO 00305

C. BAMAKO 00482

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

1.(C) Summary: A Malian delegation led by Minister of
Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna Kone, returned
to Bamako on July 1 after a three-day visit to Algiers.
General Kone's trip followed meetings between Algerian
officials and Tuareg rebels. Tuareg contacts indicate that
the Algerians succeeded in convincing Tuareg rebel leaders to
realign themselves within the framework of the Alliance for
Democracy and Change (ADC). During this first round of
negotiations, the Algerians kept the Malian and Tuareg
delegations in their respective corners with the Algerian
Ambassador to Mali serving as the main go-between. The
Algerian Ambassador returned to Bamako with Minister Kone to
meet with President Amadou Toumani Toure and prepare for the
second round of negotiations, which would presumably entail
direct talks between General Kone and Tuareg rebels in
Algiers in July. Tuareg leaders are currently on stand-by in
Tamanrasset in southern Algeria. End Summary.

2.(C) On July 1 Minister of Territorial Administration,
General Kafougouna Kone, completed a three day trip to
Algiers to prepare for upcoming negotiations with Tuareg
rebels. Minister Kone traveled to Algiers on June 28 with
Police Inspector General and Chair of the Kidal Accords
oversight committee Mahamadou Diagouraga. Rhissa ag Sidi
Mohamed, a Tuareg belonging to the Chamanamas tribe who was
the Secretary General of the Front for the Liberation of the
Azawad (FPLA) during Mali's 1991-1996 rebellion, also
traveled with Kone.

3.(C) Minister Kone met only with Algerian officials and
arrived in Algiers just as the delegation of Tuareg rebels,
which traveled to Algiers in mid-June (Ref. A),departed for
Tamanrasset. The Tuareg delegation apparently met with many
of the same Algerian officials as Kone and reflected a
balance between rebels loyal to Ibrahim Bahanga and those
belonging to the Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC).
Delegation members aligned with Bahanga included Hassan

Fagaga, Bahanga's father-in-law and Northern Mali Tuareg
Alliance for Change (ATNMC) spokesman Hama ag Sid'Ahmed,
Mohamed ag Aharib and Hamma Moussa. All of these but Hamma
Moussa belong to the Ifergoumessen fraction of the Kidal
Ifoghas tribe. Representing the ADC were ADC spokesman
Ahmada ag Bibi, Kidal Chamber of Commerce president
Abdoussalam ag Assalat and ADC Commandant Ada ag Massamad.
Tuareg leaders included Eghless ag Oufene, the mastermind of
the ill-planned March 26 attack against the Malian military
post in Aguelhok (Ref. B),in the delegation at the last
moment before leaving Kidal.

4.(C) According to Presidential advisor Mohamed ag Acherif,
who happened to be on vacation in Algiers and met with the
Tuareg delegation, the Algerian Ambassador to Mali prevailed
on Tuareg leaders to realign themselves behind the ADC
banner. Acherif said his understanding was that while Ahmada
ag Bibi would retain his title as ADC spokesperson, Bahanga
and ADC president Iyad ag Ghali would assume the key
decision-making roles. Ag Ghali is currently assigned to the
Malian consulate in Djeddah, Saudi Arabia. Acherif said the
Algerian Ambassador to Mali was particularly sharp with
Bahanga's Paris-based father-in-law ag Sid'Ahmed who, as the
self-appointed spokesman of the ATNMC, has a habit of issuing
dubious press statements. The Algerian Ambassador reportedly
instructed ag Sid'Ahmed to restrain himself from drafting any
more statements for the international press and diplomatic
corps.

5.(C) Ag Acherif said the Algerian Ambassador returned to
Bamako with Minister Kone to help accelerate the pace of
subsequent consultations with President Amadou Toumani Toure.
The Algerians apparently hope to facilitate a direct meeting
between the Malians and Tuareg rebels in Algiers in July.
Tuaregs interpreted former Tuareg rebel Rhissa ag Sidi
Mohamed's presence within the Malian delegation as a
not-so-subtle attempt by the Malians to weaken Tuareg unity.
Ag Sidi Mohamed is a member of the Chamanamas tribe. The
Malians have used some Chamanamas and Tuareg Imghads led by
Col. Elhadj Gamou to counter Bahanga and the largely Ifoghas
dominated ADC (Ref. C). Ag Acherif said that the Tuareg
delegation intended to make no demands beyond those already

BAMAKO 00000624 002 OF 002


inscribed in the Algiers Accords. He did note, however, that
the rebels would ask the Malians to recall Col. Gamou and
disband his para-military units. The Tuaregs have also asked
Algeria to resume shipments of food for rebel combatants
which were apparently begun following the May 23, 2006,
attacks and halted sometime thereafter.

6.(C) Comment: Algeria's apparent success in merging,
however delicately, all of the main Tuareg rebel factions is
encouraging. The Algerian Ambassador to Mali's personal
involvement in separate discussions with both Tuaregs and
Malian officials is also a good sign. The real challenge,
however, is likely yet to come when Algeria attempts to bring
the two sides together for direct negotiations in Algiers.
MCCULLEY