ARAB-TUAREG TENSIONS IN LERE RISE AFTER SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAMAKO 000898

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2018
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PINS PINR ML
SUBJECT: ARAB-TUAREG TENSIONS IN LERE RISE AFTER SECURITY
FORCES FIRE ON CROWD

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

1.(C) Summary: On November 10 security forces in Lere
dispersed a demonstration with live bullets, killing one
civilian and wounded 6 others. Lere is south-west of
Timbuktu, near the Malian border with Mauritania. An
official commission of inquiry led by the Gendarmerie arrived
in Lere on November 18. On November 19 a member of President
Amadou Toumani Toure's entourage who was sent to Lere
following the incident told the Embassy that security forces
fired in self-defense when the crowd, having ransacked City
Hall, turned toward members of the Malian national guard.
Many of the wounded, however, were reportedly shot in the
back. Reasons for the riot differ, with some claiming local
residents were angered by the mayor's decision regarding a
new contract for local water service delivery, and others
citing increased tensions between Lere's ethnic Tuareg and
Arab communities in advance of the May/June 2009 municipal
elections. The same Malian official said arms and drug
traffickers seeking to avoid more active Mauritanian patrols
since Mauritania's August coup are relocating to Lere just
inside the Malian border. End Summary.

2.(U) One civilian, Karim Sidibe, was killed and 6 others
wounded on November 10 when national guard troops fired on a
crowd of demonstrators in the town of Lere, between Timbuktu
and Mali's border with Mauritania. The crowd was apparently
in the process of ransacking Lere's City Hall when shots were
fired. Among the wounded was Lere's former Mayor, Bouya
Dicko, who was evacuated first to Timbuktu and then to Bamako
for treatment. Following the incident the director of the
health clinic in Lere, Ousmane Diallo, told Agence France
Press that several of the wounded were shot in the back,
indicating they were in the process of fleeing security
forces. Witnesses reported that some members of the crowd
were carrying antiquated hunting rifles and may have fired on
security forces. There were no reports of injured national
guard members. The Gendarmerie is investigating the incident
and an official commission of inquiry arrived in Lere on
November 18.

3.(U) Two explanations for the crowds' behavior prior to the
shooting have emerged. According to some sources, Lere
residents were angered by the current Mayor's decision to
award a contract for the town's water service delivery to a
particular individual. A second version attributes the
unrest to tensions between Lere's ethnic Arab and Tuareg
communities, which are each positioning themselves for
municipal elections scheduled for mid-2009.

4.(C) On November 19 presidential insider and Ministry of
Territorial Administration official Kader Bah told the
Embassy that members of the national guard in Lere had fired
in self-defense. President Toure and Minister of Territorial
Administration Kafougouna Kone sent Bah to Lere shortly after
the incident in an attempt to calm local tensions. Bah
confirmed that residents were angered by the Mayor's water
privatization scheme, but attributed the violence to tensions
between Berabiche Arabs and Tuaregs. Bah said that Mali has
seen an substantial up-tick in trafficking activity around
Lere since the Mauritanian coup in August, and believes
traffickers who previously took refuge in Mauritania are
relocating to Lere. Bah said most of the traffickers had
ties to Berabiche Arabs based in the region of Timbuktu.

5.(C) Following the shooting, Oumarou ag Mohamed Ibrahim
Haidara, president of Mali's second house of parliament,
reportedly called President Toure to complain that ethnic
Arabs were taking over the town of Lere in advance of the
2009 municipal elections. Haidara is a Tuareg from Timbuktu.
According to Bah, former Minister Mohamed ag Erlaf, a
prominent Tuareg from Kidal who is now Director of the Malian
Agency for Local Investment, also called President Toure to
register the same complaint. Meanwhile, Minister of Culture
Mohamed el Moctar, an Arab from the region of Gao, called
President Toure with the reverse observation, claiming that
Tuaregs were impinging on Lere's community of ethnic Arabs.
MILOVANOVIC