DETAILS ON RECENT HOSTAGE RELEASE AND NEXT STEPS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BAMAKO 000712

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2018
TAGS: ASEC PINS PINR PREL ML
SUBJECT: DETAILS ON RECENT HOSTAGE RELEASE AND NEXT STEPS
FOR MALI-TUAREG NEGOTIATIONS

REF: A. BAMAKO 00666

B. BAMAKO 00684

C. 07 BAMAKO 00994

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

1.(C) Summary: The Embassy met with Tuareg rebel Alliance
for Democracy and Change spokesman Ahmada ag Bibi on August 4
to discuss outcomes of the July 18-21 negotiations between
Mali and Tuareg rebels in Algiers. Ag Bibi said the Tuareg
and Malian sides did not reach an agreement in Algiers and
blamed the impasse on Ibrahim Bahanga's unwillingness to go
along with propositions supported by the ADC. Specific
stumbling blocks dividing the Tuareg camp include the
placement of one 200 member special unit and a demand for a
timetable for the implementation of the Algiers Accords. Ag
Bibi said that if these issues, together with the liberation
of approximately 89 Malian soldiers still in Tuareg hands,
were not resolved by August 15, a follow-up meeting scheduled
for August 20 in Algiers would likely be scrapped. On August
1 ADC member and Kidal Chamber of Commerce president
Abdoussalam ag Assalat told the Embassy that the July 28
release of five Malian soldiers in Tessalit had nothing to do
with the recent round of negotiations in Algiers and was
instead part of a side-deal ag Assalat was working with the
Malian government to win the release of a Tuareg who was
among the AQIM members captured by a chance Malian army
patrol in late May. On July 29 Assarid ag Imbarcaouane, who
is the vice-president of the Malian National Assembly, a key
Tuareg leader from Gao and a close advisor to President
Amadou Toumani Toure, confirmed that President Toure's Head
of State summit on Sahel-Saharan security would not occur
until October "or possibly November." End Summary.

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Algiers According to Ag Bibi
--------------

2.(C) On August 4 ADC Spokesman Ahmada ag Bibi provided a
detailed summary of recent negotiations between the Malian
government and Tuareg rebels in Algiers. Ag Bibi told the
Embassy that Malian and Tuareg delegations reached a "verbal
agreement" to liberate Malian soldiers held by Tuareg rebels,
investigate the April 10 killings of Barka ag Cheikh and
Mohamed ag Moussa, create one mixed military unit, de-mine
the region of Kidal, and reduce the number of Malian troops
stationed in the north. Ag Bibi said negotiations broke down
due to a difference of opinion between the ADC and Ibrahim
Bahanga over the location of the proposed special military
units and a timetable for Algiers Accords implementation,
with Bahanga pushing for a specific timetable over the
opposition of the Malians, ADC and Algerians.

3.(C) Ag Bibi said that the Algerian mediators proposed
creating one special unit, composed of 100 Malian soldiers
and 100 selected Tuareg fighters, under Algerian supervision
and based in the town of Tinzawaten. This unit would be
charged with observing a cease-fire agreement, overseeing
de-mining operations, and facilitating the liberation of
hostages and return of displaced populations. Ag Bibi said
the Algerians selected Tinzawaten to appease Bahanga, who is
based in Tinzawaten. The Malian delegation led by Minister of
Territorial Administration, General Kafougouna Kone,
disagreed with the idea of basing the 200 person unit in
Bahanga's home town and recommended Bourghessa instead. ADC
members led by Ag Bibi proposed housing the unit within the
city of Kidal.

4.(C) Ag Bibi said Tuaregs suspected the Malians of trying
to water down the mixed units by placing them under Algerian
supervision. He said Malian references to mixed
Malian-Algerian military patrols, which apparently stem from
a mid-July meeting in Bamako between senior Algerian military
officers and President Toure (Ref. A),amounted to nothing
more than an attempt by Mali to "bury" the Algiers Accords by
proposing a new solution not part of the original Algiers
framework. It is still unclear who from the Tuareg side
would lead a newly constituted mixed unit. Ag Bibi agreed
that Hassan Fagaga, who was the previous special unit
commander in Kidal until he deserted to join Bahanga in 2007,
was no longer a viable choice. Ag Bibi said Moussa Bah was
one possibility, and that a six person sub-group of Malian,
Algerian and Tuareg military officers had been meeting on the
Algerian side of Tinzawaten since August 4 to try to hammer
out just who would lead a new mixed Malian-Tuareg military

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unit. This group includes Commandant Ibrahim ag Inawelane
and Mohamed Mahmoud Bashir from the Tuareg side, a Lt. Col.
Ould Meloud and Col. Camara from the Malian side, and two
unnamed Algerian military officers.

5.(C) Ag Bibi said the next round of talks in Algiers
scheduled for August 20 would likely be canceled if the
Malian and Tuareg sides failed make any progress toward
constituting the 200 person mixed unit and liberating the
Malian prisoners by August 15. Everything, he said, depends
on Algeria. He said that the Algerians needed to "reassure"
the ADC and Bahanga that they would not lose any of their
bargaining power by releasing the Malian prisoners.


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The Prisoner Swap
--------------

6.(C) Kidal Chamber of Commerce president and part-time ADC
member Abdoussalam ag Assalat told the Embassy on August 1
that he engineered the July 28 release of five Malian
soldiers in Tessalit (Ref. B). These soldiers were captured
by Tuareg rebels during the ADC's May 21 attack in Abeibara.
The five individuals were among 31 prisoners held by rebels
belonging primarily to the Taghat-Melet and Idnane fractions
and loyal to Merzouk ag Acherif, Hamma Moussa and ag Assalat.
This group now holds 26 Malian soldiers. According to ag
Assalat, rebels loyal to Ibrahim Bahanga and the ADC are
holding 63 more prisoners, bringing the total number of
Malian soldiers still in Tuareg rebel hands to 89.

7.(C) Ag Assalat said the five soldiers were released not as
a result of recent talks Algiers, but rather in hopes of
securing the reciprocal release of a Tuareg captured by the
Malian army in late May during a run-in with members of AQIM.
Ag Assalat said the captured Tuareg was being held in Bamako
and indicated that he was in the process of negotiating the
terms of his release with Malian security officials. He also
said that he was working on Merzouk and Hamma Moussa to
release one or two more specific hostages with ties to
certain individuals in Bamako. ADC spokesman ag Bibi
confirmed that the July 28 liberation had nothing to do with
discussions in Algiers and were instead part of a quiet side
deal between Malian officials and rebels belonging to the
Taghat-Melet and Idnane Tuareg fractions.

8.(C) The liberation of this group of five Malian soldiers
appears to have passed unnoticed in Bamako. This is somewhat
unusual given the Malian media's tendency to greatly
exaggerate the number of prisoners either released or
captured by Tuareg rebels. The nature of an apparent deal
between one element of the Tuareg rebellion and Malian
security services could explain this silence. Ag Assalat
said he was concerned that rebels aligned with Bahanga or the
ADC would not approve of his attempts to single-handedly
secure the release of a Taghat-Melet Tuareg prisoner in
Bamako. Ag Assalat has negotiated the release of
Taghat-Melet and Idnane Tuareg prisoners before. In 2007 he
told the Embassy that he had personally spoken with AQIM
leader Moctar bel Moctar to secure the liberation of two
Taghat-Melet and Idnane Tuaregs who were captured by the GSPC
in October 2006 and subsequently written off by the primarily
Ifoghas dominated ADC (Ref. C).

9.(C) Ag Assalat said he was less optimistic about the
release of prisoners held by Bahanga and the ADC. He said
that the Tuaregs were waiting for Mali to make the first
move, presumably in the form of a draw-down in forces from
outposts in the region of Kidal. Ag Bibi also seemed
pessimistic about an eventual liberation of the remaining 89
prisoners.

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View from the National Assembly
--------------

10.(C) Ag Bibi, ag Assalat and National Assembly
vice-president ag Imbarcaouane all stressed that "nothing"
was signed in Algiers despite international media reports to
the contrary. Ag Assalat said the Algerians had in fact
discouraged the signing of any agreement out of fear that
this would encourage more attacks by new groups of
marginalized rebels seeking to sabotage the process. Ag
Assalat, who participated in the Algerian-facilitated June
22-26 meetings designed to regroup all of the various Tuareg

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rebel factions under the ADC banner, said it was still
difficult to say whether Bahanga or ADC spokesman Ahmada ag
Bibi was directing the ADC. He believed Bahanga had more
leverage than ag Bibi. Ag Imbarcaouane credited ag Bibi for
regrouping Tuareg rebels behind the ADC prior to talks in
Algiers but said that President Toure expected Bahanga to
control all of the disparate rebel movements.

11.(C) Ag Imbarcaouane said President Toure was reviewing a
Tuareg proposal to create multiple mixed units based in
Kidal, Tessalit, Tin-Essako, Tinzwaten and elsewhere. He
said he had personally discussed this idea with the President
within the past few days and that the Malians found the idea
of multiple mixed units "excessive." He also said President
Toure's oft-discussed and more oft-postponed Head of State
summit on Sahel-Saharan security was now scheduled for
October, "or possibly November," and would include as many
nations as possible including the U.S., France and other
non-African countries with an interest in Sahel-Saharan
security.

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Summary: An August 15 Deadline
--------------

12.(C) Although the July 20-21 talks between Mali and Tuareg
rebels in Algiers ended amicably, discussions ran into
familiar obstacles: disagreement over the liberation of
hostages, the composition and placement of special mixed
military units, the investigation of the April 10 executions
in Kidal, the reduction of the Malian military's footprint in
the north, and Ibrahim Bahanga's unwillingness to compromise.
Judging from ag Bibi and ag Assalat's apparent lack of
enthusiasm, unless Algeria can once again force Bahanga to
accept an agreement in favor of the greater good, the
informal August 15 deadline set by all three sides for the
release of prisoners and the creation of special units will
likely slip into late August or September.
LEONARD