PROBLEM CHILD: ALGERIA'S GROWING IMPATIENCE WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ALGIERS 000469

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/12/2019
TAGS: PTER PINS PINR PREL ASEC ML AG
SUBJECT: PROBLEM CHILD: ALGERIA'S GROWING IMPATIENCE WITH
MALI

REF: ALGIERS 463

Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Algeria has long considered Mali an ally in
the fight against terrorism in the Sahel, but is losing
patience with its southern neighbor. During the week of
April 25, the two major independent French-language dailies
in Algiers, Liberte and El Watan, accused Malian President
Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT) of sheltering "GSPC terrorist
cells" and letting drug smugglers operate freely. The papers
also criticized ATT for his failure to implement the 2006
Algiers Accords, and his deteriorating relationship with the
Tuareg rebels -- messages almost certainly fed to the press
by the Algerian security services. As noted reftel, MFA
Director General for African Affairs Lounes Magramane told us
on May 3 that Algeria has grown frustrated and concerned by
the situation in northern Mali, and fears that the area is
"becoming a sanctuary for terrorists." Magramane said Mali
has the capacity but lacks the political will to build
effective relationships with northern tribes to cut off
support for AQIM. END SUMMARY.

MALI AS PROBLEM CHILD
--------------


2. (C) Mali's anti-terrorism and law enforcement efforts are
proving problematic for Mali's relationship with Algeria,
which believes that ATT has focused too much time and energy
on dealing with Tuareg rebels and not enough on fighting
terrorists. The recent criticism of Mali in the Algerian
press, which came on the heels of the recent hostage release,
has portrayed Mali as a traditional ally in the fight against
terrorism, but one whose behavior and loyalties are
unreliable and possibly changing. At best, Algeria has
accused Mali of being lax in its law enforcement and
anti-terrorism efforts; at worst, it has tacitly accused ATT
of providing a safehaven in which drug smugglers and
terrorists can operate, allowing the drug trade to expand
across the Sahel.


3. (C) Said Benmerad, a security expert at the Center for
Applied Economic Research for Development (CREAD),told us
recently that the message from Algeria, transmitted through
the French-speaking press, is that Mali is "a very bad
student in the fight against terrorism and that there can be
no real cooperation, especially on counter-terrorism issues,
when one partner is playing a double game." He went on to
say that Algeria's primary goal in seeking an end to the
Tuareg rebellion was to eliminate GSPC (later AQIM)
activities in the region, not simply to secure northern Mali.
Benmerad said that Algiers feels Bamako has not shown enough
interest in this fight beyond seeking to crush the Tuaregs.
An April 26 El Watan interview with ATT was a "provocation,"
he said, portraying the presence of terrorists in the Sahel
as a danger first for Algeria.

BAMAKO PLAYING BOTH SIDES?
--------------


4. (C) El Watan reporter Salima Tlemcani, who has
longstanding ties to the Algerian security services,
explained the situation after her April 26 interview with
ATT. She told us that nowhere are tribal relations more
important than in northern Mali. By exploiting relationships
with Arab tribes in a security vacuum, GSPC/AQIM elements
were able to establish a base in the region. Tlemcani
observed that the tribes speak the same language and even
have family ties with the Salafists in some cases. She
pointed to the longstanding presence of hostages in Mali,
specifically in the regions surrounding Timbuktu and Arouane,
noting those locations have also hosted negotiations for
their release. The real issue between Algiers and Bamako,
Tlemcani suggested, "is the possibility that there is a tacit
agreement between the GSPC and Bamako, by which Mali may be
benefiting from ransom payments."


5. (C) One of Algeria's main complaints against ATT, as
explained by MFA DG Magramane, is the Malian president's
apparent unwillingness to put an end to Tuareg dissidence and
fully respect the commitments undertaken in the 2006 Algiers

ALGIERS 00000469 002 OF 002


Accords. Although ATT recognizes that not all Tuareg rebels
laid down their arms, Algeria has pointed out that some of
the weapons that were surrendered by the Tuaregs to the
Malian military have been found on the bodies of deceased
terrorists. In that regard Nacer Medjadel, chief editor of
Algerian state TV Channel 3's "Carnet d'Afrique," remarked to
us recently that "you can play with human identities, but you
cannot play with serial numbers." According to Medjadel,
ATT's lack of enforcement of the Algiers Accords has been one
problem, but the hostages have been another. ATT has
emphasized that all of the European hostages were taken
outside Mali, accusing both Algeria and Tunisia of lax
security enforcement. Magramane pointed out to us that
regardless of where the hostages were taken, "they always
seem to end up in Mali."

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) On the same day as ATT's El Watan interview, in which
he claimed that Mali had never been a target of the
Salafists, the press here reported that a dozen terrorists
attacked a Malian military patrol in the Kidal region. With
Algeria openly questioning ATT's will to be an effective
counterterrorism partner, Magramane said the Algerian
government now hangs its hopes on ATT's proposed summit of
regional heads of state, to be held in Bamako. There has
been no official response from Bamako in the Algerian media
to the Algiers newspapers' allegations. The journalists we
spoke to speculate that ATT does not want the row to
jeopardize attendance at his summit, particularly by the
Algerian and Libyan heads of state.
PEARCE