MALIANS REPORTEDLY ARREST KIDNAPPING SUSPECTS NEAR

S E C R E T BAMAKO 000171

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2018
TAGS: PTER PINS PINR PREL ML
SUBJECT: MALIANS REPORTEDLY ARREST KIDNAPPING SUSPECTS NEAR
GAO

REF: BAMAKO 00135

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

1.(S) Summary: On March 18-19 Kidal Chamber of Commerce
president Abdousalam ag Assalat told the Embassy that Malian
State Security had arrested two individuals in connection
with the January 22 kidnapping of four European tourists near
the northern Malian town of Anderamboukane. One of those
arrested is reportedly Mahama ag Assarid, a Chamanamas Tuareg
who was previously identified as one those likely involved in
the Europeans' disappearance. Ag Assalat also reported that
senior Chamanamas Tuareg leaders, including Minister of
Environment Aghatam ag Alassane, were putting significant
pressure on the Malian government to release both suspects.
End Summary.

2.(S) Abdousalam ag Assalat told the Embassy on March 18
that Malian security services had arrested Mahama ag Assarid
about 40 km east of Gao. Ag Assalat and other Tuareg
contacts have implicated Ag Assarid, previously identified as
only "Mohamed", and two other Tuaregs, Inteweka ag Ahmayed
(aka Ousmane) and Tibla ag Tinfane, in the kidnapping of four
European tourists along the Mali-Niger border in January

2009. According to ag Assalat, ag Assarid was using the
false name Ibrahim ag Moussa when he was arrested by Malian
authorities. Ag Assalat added that senior Chamanamas Tuareg
leaders, including Minister of Environment ag Alassane, were
already pressuring the Malian government to release ag
Assarid, claiming that Tuaregs had nothing to do with hostage
taking or AQIM.

3.(S) On March 19 ag Assalat told the Embassy that Malian
authorities had in fact arrested two individuals. The second
individual is named Sidamar and is a local leader of
Chamanamas Tuaregs in the Gao area. Since there are several
Chamanamas Tuaregs named Sidamar, we do not know who this
individual is or why he may have been arrested. His apparent
status within the Chamanamas community may help to explain
the mobilization of Chamanamas leaders to effectuate his and
ag Assarid's rapid release.

4.(S) The arrest, and ag Assalat's immediate knowledge of
it, was not all that surprising given that ag Assalat and
renowned Tuareg trafficker Merzouk ag Acherif previously told
the Embassy that Kidal Tuaregs were working on a plan to
apprehend some of those suspected of kidnapping the four
European tourists near the northern Malian town of
Anderamboukane (Ref. A). During the week of March 9 ag
Assalat reported that Merzouk had "secretly" moved to Gao to
help track Asultan ould Badi, another northern Mali
trafficker and AQIM facilitator who is often linked to those
responsible for kidnapping two Canadian diplomats in Niger in
December 2009.

5.(S) Comment: Arresting individuals suspected of being
involved in the European and Canadian kidnappings is perhaps
one of the most direct and effective ways to prevent similar
incidents in the future. If ag Assalat's information proves
correct and Mahama ag Assarid was indeed one of the two
individuals picked up by Malian authorities, releasing him
before attempting to fully ascertain whether ag Assarid was
indeed involved in the Anderamboukane kidnappings would send
the opposite message - that one can kidnap individuals and
sell them to AQIM with impunity in northern Mali.
MILOVANOVIC