MALIANS AND TUAREG REBELS PREPARE FOR DIRECT TALKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000666

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2018
TAGS: ASEC PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: MALIANS AND TUAREG REBELS PREPARE FOR DIRECT TALKS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00624

B. BAMAKO 00599

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

1.(C) On July 16 Ahmada ag Bibi, the spokesman of the Tuareg
rebel Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC),told the
Embassy that Tuareg rebel leaders expected to meet with a
delegation of Malian officials in Algiers as early as Friday,
July 18. Ag Bibi relayed this information to a Tuareg member
of the Embassy's political section by telephone from Algiers.
Ag Bibi and other members of the Tuareg rebel delegation
(see Ref. A) left Tamanrasset for Algiers on July 14. The
Tuaregs expect to discuss the issue of joint
Malian-Algerian-Tuareg military patrols along the
Malian-Algerian frontier. The fate of more than 80 Malian
soldiers still held by Ibrahim Bahanga and the ADC is also
expected to be on the agenda.

2.(C) Minister of Territorial Administration, General
Kafougouna Kone, is leading the Malian delegation. Other
members include the president of the Algiers Accords'
steering committee, Police Controller General Mahamadou
Diagouraga; the Malian Ambassador to Algeria, Mamadou
Magassouba; the Malian military attache in Algiers, Col.
Cheick Fanta Mady Maiga; and the Malian consul to
Tamanrasset, Police Controller General Namakoro Diarra, among
others. Also in the Malian delegation is 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. Ag Sidi
Mohamed was part of the pre-negotiating team Minister Kone
led to Algiers at the end of June. His presence within the
Malian government delegation has confused Tuareg rebel
leaders who view his inclusion as an attempt by the Malians
to subvert Tuareg unity. Ag Sidi Mohamed appears to be a
peripheral figure with little to no influence over Tuareg
rebels or members of the Kidal Tuareg community.

3.(SBU) Minister Kone left Bamako following a highly
publicized meeting between the GOM and a delegation of senior
Algerian military officers. The Algerian military delegation
was led by General Amrani Anmar and apparently included two
other Generals, four colonels and several lesser ranking
officers. The delegation met with President Amadou Toumani
Toure, Malian military leadership and the Ministers of
Defense and Foreign Affairs. According to Malian press
reports, the Algerian delegation discussed the possibility of
instituting joint Malian-Algerian-Tuareg military patrols to
counter banditry, drug trafficking and terrorism along the
Mali-Algeria frontier. The Algerians and Malians also
discussed agreements allowing for cross-border pursuit,
greater information and intel sharing, and additional
material support for the Malian military.

4.(SBU) On July 15 Minister Kone told the Malian government
newspaper, l'Essor, that upcoming talks with Tuareg rebels in
Algiers would be confined to the framework of the Algiers
Accords. "The goal of our trip is not to sign a new
agreement," said Kone. "The meetings in Algiers will be
based wholly on the agreement we have already signed." Kone
said Mali's pre-conditions for negotiations with Tuareg
rebels were the liberation of Malian soldiers held by Bahanga
and the ADC, the return of arms and ammunition captured
during recent rebel attacks, and the dismantling of rebel
"bases." These bases are presumably in Tegharghar and Tin
Assalek. Minister Kone also told the l'Essor that he
traveled to Algiers at the end of June to meet with Algerian
officials "because people often say that our government has
done nothing" regarding the implementation of the Algiers
Accords and that Malian government recognized a need to
better frame publicly what the Accords actually require and
the facts regarding Mali's progress toward meeting these
commitments.

5.(C) Comment: It appears, at least from Bamako, that Algeria
has done its due diligence and that puzzle pieces paving the
way for a renewed commitment to the Algiers Accords are
falling into place. Minister Kone's reference to a Malian
attempt to correct the public record regarding Mali's
dedication to the Algiers Accords is also encouraging,
particularly since we have encouraged the GOM to ratchet up
its public relations strategy by highlighting the true status
of Algiers Accords commitments, and Malian steps toward their
fulfillment, on several occasions - most recently during
Ambassador McCulley's June 20 farewell call on Minister Kone

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just days before the last round of Mali-Algeria discussions
(Ref. B). Details on the possibility of joint
Malian-Algerian-Tuareg military patrols remain scarce and
these patrols likely remain far off, even though ag Bibi
seems to believe that there could be some agreement on their
composition over the next few days. Hopefully the Algerian
mediation team, led by the Algerian Ambassador to Mali, will
pressure Bahanga and the ADC to release the Malian soldiers
they have been holding for several months as this is a key
sticking point for the Malians who are understandably loathe
to negotiate with rebels who are using captured members of
the Malian military as bargaining chips. The complete and
unilateral release of the more than eighty soldiers in Tuareg
hands would signify a gesture of good-faith on the part of
Tuareg rebels, allow Minister Kone to claim concrete progress
upon his return to Bamako, and provide a significant amount
of breathing room for the GOM by reducing tensions not only
between the Malian military and Tuaregs in the Kidal region,
but between Mali's military and civilian leadership.
LEONARD