NORTHERN MALIAN ETHNIC COMMUNITIES MEET IN AGOUNI,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000598

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS ML
SUBJECT: NORTHERN MALIAN ETHNIC COMMUNITIES MEET IN AGOUNI,
AUG 1-2

REF: A. BAMAKO 538

B. BAMAKO 163

Classified By: PolCouns Peter Newman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On August 1-2, the Berabiche Arab community
of Timbuktu organized and hosted a rare meeting of
representatives of all Northern Malian ethnic communities,
(the first such meeting in 10 years),to discuss the
threat posed by Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb
(AQIM). Government representation was limited to
Minister of Culture Mohamed el Moctar and Minister of
Agriculture Aghatam ag Alhassane. Arab, Tuareg, and GOM
officials all conveyed to POLCOUNS that the meeting was
largely a Berabiche overture to the other ethnic communities
of Northern Mali. Some were pleased with the show of unity,
in spite of some lingering skepticism. Kidal Tuaregs
and the Berabiche have tentatively proposed a follow-on
meeting in early-October 2009. End summary.


2. (C) On Aug 1-2, the Berabiche Arab community organized
and hosted a meeting in the town of Agouni, approximately
30 km north of Timbuktu. The meeting gathered members of
most of the major ethnic groups in Northern Mali including
Berabiche Arab, Tuareg and Songhai. Minister of Culture
Mohamed el Moctar, who also served as a Telemsi Arab
representative, and Minister of Agriculture Aghatam ag
Alhassane, who also served as the representative of the Gao
Tuareg community, also attended.


3. (C) Kidal Iforas Tuaregs were initially skeptical of the
Berabiche's motivations, but two National Assembly Deputies
from Kidal Province told POLCOUNS they were pleased with the
show of unity. Both commented that the Berabiche were
worried about keeping the peace in Northern Mali, and
construed the meeting as outreach to the broader Northern
Mali
population. They said the participants agreed to a short
consensus statement expressing the view that AQIM is a
problem
and that all northern communities should work with the Malian
Armed Forces against AQIM.


4. (C) One of the Deputies said he did not believe any new
cooperation would come of the Agouni meeting, while yet
another National Assembly Deputy later informed POLCOUNS that
a follow-up meeting, jointly organized by the Iforas and
the Berabiche, was tentatively being planned for
early-October 2009. The plan is to invite almost all groups
invited to
the Agouni meeting plus regional political leaders, including
governors and prefects. Conspicuously missing from the
list are the Telemsi Arabs and the Imghad Tuaregs of Gao
province. The Kidal Tuaregs believe these groups are trying
to
sow discord among the northern communities (See septel).


5. (C) Regarding Kidal Tuareg cooperation with the Malian
Armed Forces, one Deputy expressed pessimism about any
renewed
willingness to create mixed units of Iforas Tuareg and
Southern Malians, as had been agreed in the 2006 Algiers
Accords.
Conversely, another did mention that the Malian Armed Forces
are already working with Taghat Malet Tuaregs from Kidal (a
tribe traditionally lower in the Tuareg hierarchy than the
Iforas),stemming from cooperation during the campaign to
defeat
Ibrahim ag Bahanga in January-February 2009 and later
political machinations.


6. (C) Although he did not attend the conference,
Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs Kader Bah told
POLCOUNS
separately that the participants reached no hard commitments
on improving security in the north. When asked about the
prospects of expanding mixed units beyond the limited
engagement provided by the Echelons Tactiques Inter-Armes
(ETIAs -
see Reftel A),Bah demurred except regarding the inclusion of
Kidal Tuaregs, with whom he said cooperation would be
unlikely. He said others in the GOM consider them to be guns
for hire that have no loyalty to the Malian state and are
unwilling to fight outside of Kidal.


BAMAKO 00000598 002 OF 002



7. (C) Comment: Post views the Aug 1-2 Agouni meeting as a
small but positive step toward political reconciliation among
northern communities. After the killing of Briton Edwin Dyer
and the assassination of Colonel Lamana ould Bou (himself an
ethnic Berabiche),the Berabiche leaders have perhaps begun
to recognize the danger that AQIM poses to stability in
Northern Mali. That they were able to convoke
representatives of most of the northern ethnic communities
shows the
increased interest many Northern Malians have in resolving
the AQIM problem, even while they remain suspicious of one
another. The possibility of a follow-on meeting in October,
though far from assured, is promising. End comment.

MILOVANOVIC