ONE OF EIGHT CAPTURED TUAREG REBELS DIES IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAMAKO 000037 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL PINS ML SUBJECT: ONE OF EIGHT CAPTURED TUAREG REBELS DIES IN CUSTODY IN BAMAKO REF: BAMAKO 00036 Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 1.(U) One of the eight Tuareg rebels captured by the Malian military on January 12 died in Malian custody in Bamako on January 15. The eight rebels had been transferred to Bamako one day before, on January 14 (reftel). Radio France (RFI) reported the death, quoting an unnamed source from the Malian Ministry of Defense. The source confirmed the death, and told RFI that Mali would solicit a legal medical opinion and Algerian mediation to determine the actual cause of death. RFI reported that one of the eight prisoners was limping noticeably upon arrival at the Bamako airport on January 14. 2.(C) On January 16 a Malian government official told the Embassy that the dead prisoner was not Ahmed Anakib, the presumed leader of captured rebel contingent and senior member of either the Tuareg rebel Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC),Ibrahim Bahanga's Northern Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change (ATNMC),or both. The official said the prisoner was already ill upon arrival in Bamako. He said Mali was in the process of handing over the body to Algeria in order to obtain independent certification that the individual was not tortured or mistreated and that the death resulted from other causes. The official also said Mali intended to "do what the Israelis do" and eventually barter the remaining 7 captives for the three Malian soldiers still held by Ibrahim Bahanga. LEONARD