THIS WEEK IN NORTHERN MALI: REBEL DISARMAMENT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BAMAKO 000107

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2019
TAGS: PGOV PINS ASEC PTER PREL ML
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN NORTHERN MALI: REBEL DISARMAMENT AND
BAHANGA'S COMPLAINT

REF: BAMAKO 00069

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

1.(C) Summary: All known Tuareg rebel factions, excepting
the remnants of Tuareg rebel leader Ibrahim Bahanga's
Northern Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change (ATNMC),disarmed
February 13-17 in northern Mali amid pledges by both the
Malian and Tuareg sides to return to the Algiers Accords
framework. The first wave of rebel disarmament, from Feb.
13-14, occurred with support from Libya rather than Mali's
Algerian mediators. The second wave of five to seven hundred
Tuareg rebel Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC) members
on February 17 was facilitated by Algeria. At least one
Tuareg contact has expressed concern that the Tuareg rebels
who disarmed prior to the February 17 ceremony in Kidal have
been systematically excluded from the Algiers Accords process
by Algeria and the ADC. This contact also warned that most
of the weapons returned by Tuareg rebels were junk and that
the rebels' real weaponry was carefully stashed out of sight.
Although Bahanga's actual whereabouts remain unknown,
reports of Bahanga sightings continue to trickle into Bamako,
including a February 19 report that Bahanga had carjacked a
Malian Berabiche drug caravan of 15 vehicles between Abeibara
and the Algerian border. On February 18 Bahanga's
father-in-law and Paris-based ATNMC spokesman issued a
statement comparing this week's disarmament ceremonies to the
one that occurred in March 2007, just a few weeks before
hostilities led by Bahanga, resumed. Disarmament may be the
easy part for Mali, Algeria, and the ADC. Rolling former
rebels into mixed military units, providing economic
"reinsertion" payments to ex-combatants, and disbanding the
Tuareg and Arab militias Mali constituted to fight the rebels
will likely prove more complicated. End Summary.

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Tuareg Rebels Disarm in Kidal
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2.(U) A wave of Tuareg rebel disarmament ceremonies washed
over northern Mali from February 13 to 17, resulting in the
return of perhaps as many as 750 Tuareg rebel combatants back
to Kidal. Some estimates claim that over 1500 rebels
disarmed in total from February 13-17. The first two groups
of Tuareg rebels to disarm - a group of approximately 165
tangential members of the ADC - were primarily Taghat Melet
Tuaregs. This group turned over its weapons to military
authorities on the outskirts of Kidal, then entered the city
under military escort. Malian press reported that a smaller
group of 32 rebels disarmed in the village of Djouhan,
roughly 50 KM from Kidal.

3.(C) On February 14 a second group of rebels, an estimated
120 Idnane Tuaregs, participated in a disarmament ceremony in
the northern town of Timitrine, to the west of Aguelhok.
This group was led by National Assembly Deputy Deity ag
Sidamou and Tessalit Mayor Abdoulahi ag Elbakaye. Ag Sidimou
is an estranged member of the ADC. The Idnane rebel ceremony
was engineered by Ahmed ag Boya, an Idnane community leader
and Customs Inspector, and Mohamed ag Erlaf, a former Malian
government Minister and currently Director of the Malian
Agency for Local Investment. Ag Boya and Ag Erlaf previously
organized the largely ceremonial disarmament of 140 Idnane
"rebels" in the town of Bourem, north of Gao, on January 19
(Ref. A). They then traveled to Libya, along with other
Idnane leaders from northern Mali, presumably to acquire the
financial support needed to convince the real Idnane Tuareg
rebels, led by ag Sidamou, to also put down their weapons.
The February 14 ceremony in Tessalit was widely covered by
Malian television.

4.(C) On February 19 presidential advisor and Kidal Tuareg
Acherif ag Mohamed told the Embassy that neither of these two
disarmament ceremonies were supported by the Algerian
mediators. In other words, both were organized independent
of the Algiers Accords process, likely with Libyan financing,
by ag Erlaf who is half Idnane and half Taghat Melet. This
added context to concerns articulated by another Taghat Melet
leader, Kidal Chamber of Commerce President Abdousalam ag
Assalat, regarding the perceived exclusion of Idnane and
Taghat Melet constituencies from the Algiers Accords process
(see para 14).

5.(C) On February 17 the most important group of Tuareg
rebels - roughly 500 members of the ADC riding in perhaps as
many as 80 vehicles - disarmed in Kidal. The ceremony had
been scheduled for February 15 but was postponed, officially,
for "technical reasons." Tuareg contacts indicated that the

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ceremony had been delayed in order to assure the attendance
of the Algerian Ambassador to Mali, Abdelkarim Ghreib.
Tuareg rebels handed over their weapons during the February
17 ceremony held at the Kidal airport. Presiding over the
ceremony were key Tuareg rebel leaders including ADC
spokesman Ahmada ag Bibi, former ATNMC member and chronic
army deserter Hassan ag Fagaga, the Algerian Ambassador to
Mali, Minister of Territorial Administration Kafougouna Kone,
Mali's Military Chief of Staff General Gabriel Poudiougou,
Col. Elhedj Gamou and others including the Cuban Ambassador
to Mali who was ostensibly in Kidal to visit Cuban doctors
working at a local health clinic. A number of ATNMC
defectors were also among those turning in their arms.

6.(U) According to the Malian government newspaper L'Essor,
78 of the returning rebels were military deserters who will
be re-incorporated into mixed units. Another 500 rebels who
were previously not part of Malian military will also be
integrated into the Malian armed forces.

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Next Steps: Reintegration and "Reinsertion"
--------------

7.(U) During an interview with Radio France on February 18,
Algerian Ambassador Ghreib said the next steps for northern
Mali would be strict application of the Algiers Accords by
rolling former rebel combatants into mixed military units
under the command of the Malian army and arranging "economic
reinsertion" payments for several hundred "youth" who were
formerly part of the Tuareg rebel fighting force. Ambassador
Ghreib told the Malian newspaper l'Independant that he
expected as many as 3000 Tuareg rebels to return to the peace
process, seeking either to be integrated into the Malian
military or receive economic reinsertion payments.

8.(C) Acherif ag Mohamed told the Embassy that mixed units
would likely be commanded by ADC Commandant Moussa Bah. He
described Hassan Fagaga, who commanded one mixed unit for no
more than a month or two in 2007 before deserting once again
to the rebellion, as tired and no longer suitable for
command.

9.(U) There are a number of funds and programs already
available to ease rebel combatants' return to civilian life.
These include the Malian government's Agency for Northern
Development (ADN); the approximately USD 2 million Mali and
Algeria have already set aside for returning rebels; the USD
22 million Integrated Rural Development Program for Kidal
(PIDRK) which is partly funded by the West African
Development Bank, Belgium, and other donors.

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Hassan Fagaga: It Ain't Me
--------------

10.(U) On February 19 the Malian newspaper l'Independant
published an exclusive interviews with Col. Hassan ag Fagaga
and ADC spokesman Ahmada ag Bibi. Fagaga - who deserted from
the Malian military in 2006 to participate in the first
Tuareg rebel attacks of May 2006 then returned briefly to
serve as the Commander of a mixed unit in Kidal in June 2007
before deserting once again - said the ADC had returned to
Kidal and the Algiers Accords after receiving assurances from
the Malian government that, this time, the Accords would be
properly implemented. Indicating that he was already
reintegrated into the Malian army, Fagaga said he would
prefer to stay in Kidal but that this would depend on orders
received from his superiors within the Malian military.

11.(U) Fagaga also described himself as "a partisan for
peace, contrary to everything newspapers in Bamako say."
Asked if he would have a problem working with Col. Elhedj
Gamou, who led the Malian military and irregular Tuareg
Imghad militia units against both the ADC and the ATNMC,
Fagaga responded: "Gamou, who is he? He is a member of the
army. There is no Gamou problem. Nor is there a problem
between me and Gamou or any of the other soldiers of the
army." Fagaga blamed journalists for seeing non-existent
divisions and said the divide between himself from Col. Gamou
is political, not military. Our demands, said Fagaga, "are
of a political rather than a military nature." When asked
what these demands are, Fagaga said this was an issue between
Tuareg rebels and the Malian government but stressed the need
for the "correct" implementation of the Algiers Accords.

12.(U) The l'Independant asked Fagaga if he planned to use
the failure to implement part of the Accords as a pretext for
deserting once again, to which Fagaga responded: "It is God

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that decides. It isn't me. It is God that knows." Referring
to erroneous press reports of Fagaga being wounded and
transported to Algeria for treatment in 2008, the
l'Independant asked if Fagaga had recovered from his wounds.
"I was never wounded," said Fagaga. "It was you who wrote
that I was wounded and was in Algeria for treatment. But no.
I never killed anyone or attacked an army position. I was
never in combat, so how could I ever have been wounded?
However, there were some attacks against our positions and I
defended myself without much difficulty. Whether you believe
me or not, it's the truth. What is sure is that today more
than yesterday, I'm doing just fine."

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Ag Bibi: Development First
--------------

13.(U) ADC spokesman and National Assembly Deputy Ahmada ag
Bibi told L'Independant that he believed the ADC was prepared
to stay in Kidal "for eternity." When asked what's next for
the peace process, however, ag Bibi turned to the more
sweeping (and expensive) aspects of the Algiers Accords. "We
need an airport (in Kidal),schools, health centers, water
supplies, roads, and farming land. Without forgetting the
socio-economic reinsertion of youth. In short, we need
development."

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A Quiet Note of Discord
--------------

14.(C) On February 18 Kidal Chamber of Commerce President
and ADC member Abdousalam ag Assalat told the Embassy from
Kidal that the arms turned in by the ADC were useless
antiques and that Tuareg rebels had hidden away any weapons
that were serviceable. Ag Assalat said that the success of
this latest push toward disarmament and reintegration of
rebel fighters depends on Mali and Algeria's motivation to
adhere to their Algiers Accords commitments.

15.(C) Ag Assalat also complained that Mali, Algeria and the
ADC had systematically removed any Tuaregs not belonging to
Kidal's dominant Ifoghas fraction from their spots on the
Algiers Accords steering committee and the Algiers Accords
technical committee. Ag Assalat, who is a Taghat Melet, held
one of the ADC's three seats on the Algiers Accords steering
committee until he resigned his seat in late December 2008 or
early January 2009. According to ag Assalat, the ADC's three
seats on the Accords steering committee are now held by three
Tuareg Ifoghas - Hassan ag Fagaga, Haroun ag Saghid, and
Cheikh ag Aoussa - meaning that the important Taghat Melet
and Idnane Tuareg communities are no longer represented. The
same holds for the Algiers Accords technical committee, which
is also a nine person group composed of three representatives
from Mali, Algeria and the ADC. The technical committee
focuses on implementing the military aspects of the Algiers
Accords. All three ADC representatives to this committee are
also Tuareg Ifoghas led by ADC Commander Moussa Bah.

16.(C) Ag Assalat said he believed the ADC had pushed rebel
Idnane and Taghat Melet Tuaregs aside because the ADC is, at
heart, an Ifoghas rebel group and key ADC leaders questioned
Idnane and Taghat Melet loyalties. He thought Algeria
provided tacit approval to this move because Algeria
perceives Idnane and Taghat Melet rebels to be closer to
Libya than Algeria.

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Is Bahanga in the Building?
--------------

17.(U) On February 18 Bahanga's father-in-law Hama ag
Sid'Ahmed issued another statement warning that the February
17 disarmament ceremony was no different than the one that
occurred in Kidal on March 9, 2007, just weeks before
hostilities - led primarily by Bahanga - resumed. Ag
Sid'Ahmed described the ADC's return to Kidal not as
disarmament but as an "unconditional surrender" and argued
that no peace is possible without the participation of
Bahanga.

18.(C) Meanwhile, Bahanga sightings continue. The Algerian
DCM and Tuareg contacts told the Embassy on February 12-13
that Bahanga was in northern Niger with Nigerien Tuareg
rebels. On February 18 a confidante of President Amadou
Toumani Toure told the Embassy that Mali believed Bahanga was
in Libya with a handful of his remaining followers. Acherif
ag Mohamed told the Embassy that he believed Bahanga was with
rebels in Niger. Acherif said he spoke to Bahanga's brother

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in law, Mohamed ag Aharib, on February 18 by telephone. Ag
Aharib was one of the original three Tuareg rebel
representatives to the Algiers Accords steering committee,
along with ag Assalat and Haroun ag Saghid. Ag Aharib later
defected from the ADC to join the ATNMC. Acherif said Aharib
was currently in Libya, waiting for the dust in Kidal to
settle before attempting to return to Mali.

19.(U) During an interview with Malian media on February 17
in Kidal, a Malian journalist asked the Algerian Ambassador
if Bahanga was in Algeria. "Even if he was in Algeria," said
Ambassador Ghreib "I wouldn't tell you."

20.(C) On February 19 Tuareg contacts told the Embassy that
a group of Tuareg bandits led by Bahanga had held up an Arab
Berabiche drug convoy of 15 vehicles somewhere between
Abeibera and the Algerian border. Twelve of these vehicles
were reportedly carrying cocaine. The other three 4x4s
served as escorts. The attackers allegedly took all of the
vehicles, as well as the drug shipment, and instructed the
Arabs to return to Kidal with a message from Bahanga that
more incidents of this kind would occur in the future.

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Comment: And Now the Hard Part
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21.(C) Rebel disarmament will look easy compared to standing
up mixed units and completing "socio-economic reinsertion"
payments. Mali has, up to this point, been reluctant to arm
integrated Tuareg rebels with a history of turning Malian
military hardware against their fellow soldiers. Another
serious, and perhaps even greater challenge, is disarming the
Tuareg and Arab militia units Mali constituted to combat the
ADC and Bahanga. There is little chance that many of these
fighters are interested in, or would be allowed to, join the
Malian army. Nor is it clear that Col. Elhedj Gamou and Col.
Abderahmane ould Meydou, the two Malian military officers who
led, respectively, Imghad Tuareg and Malian Arab militia
units, are keen on disbanding what amounts to their private
armies of loyal followers. With Bahanga still at large, Mali
and Tuareg rebels still have a long way to go before formally
declaring an end to the 2006-2009 Tuareg rebellion.
MILOVANOVIC