Tuaregs claim 'independence' from Mali

[Princess Luna]

Tuareg rebels from northern Mali have proclaimed the "independence of Azawad" in a statement on their website and through a spokesperson on France 24 television.

"We solemnly proclaim the independence of Azawad as from today," Mossa Ag Attaher said on Friday, adding that the rebels would respect "the borders with other states".
http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/Images/2012/4/6/20124655956253734_20.jpg

Mali has been gripped by instability, following a coup by army officers in the capital Bamako and advances by Tuareg fighters and other armed groups that have seen a string of northern towns fall under their control.

The MNLA statement on Friday stressed the group's "firm commitment to create the conditions for lasting peace [and] to initiate the institutional foundations for a state based on a democratic constitution for an independent Azawad".

Armed fighters stormed the Algerian consulate in northeastern Mali on Thursday, abducting seven diplomats amid fears that Al Qaeda-linked fighters are turning the country into a rogue state and fuelling a humanitarian crisis.

As the MNLA claimed success in its decades-old struggle to "liberate" their homeland, there were reports that Ansar Dine, an Islamist group which had also joined the fight against Malian government forces, had begun imposing Sharia law in some northern areas of Mali.

'Strange situation'

"The coup leaders were of the view that they would get more support from the people because of ... the failure of the military establishment to cope with the situation," said Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Bamako.

"But they suddenly found themselves in a strange situation - the coup leaders lost control of half of the country, and they're now hoping for international support."

The MNLA said that as a result of their capture of the Azawad, a broadly triangular area of desert in northern Mali, it was halting all military operations starting on midnight on Thursday and called on the international community to recognise its independence.

"We completely accept the role and responsibility that behoves us to secure this territory," Ag Attaher said. "We have ended a very important fight, that of liberation... now the biggest task commences."

But a Malian military source told the AFP news agency that Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghaly wielded more power in the north, with the backing of regional al-Qaeda fighters.

"From what we know, the MNLA is in charge of nothing at the moment ... it is Iyad who is the strongest and he is with AQIM," the source said, referring to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Kidnapping 'deplorable'

Algeria's foreign ministry said an unidentified group had attacked its consulate in the northern town of Gao and kidnapped the consul and six staff members.

The kidnapping on Thursday was "deplorable," Ag Attaher said, adding that his group had been against that action but finally went along with the move so as to spare lives.

Witnesses told AFP that raiders had hoisted the black Salafist flag that has been the emblem of rebels who had overrun Gao, Timbuktu and other northern towns.

Amnesty International warned on Thursday that Mali's north faces a humanitarian catastrophe after rebels looted food and medicine supplies across an arid region already facing shortages.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/04/20124644412359539.html

If Malian troops don't deal with them, then the AU will, and if the AU doesn't then the US will. But in the end I think there is little hope of Azawad surviving as a country.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/04/20124644412359539.html

If Malian troops don't deal with them, then the AU will, and if the AU doesn't then the US will. But in the end I think there is little hope of Azawad surviving as a country.

It would have been nice for the Tuareg rebels to find out what the non-Tuareg people of Azawad think about "independence" before declaring it unilaterally. Allowing various ethnic nationalist movements to declare independence without first holding a plebiscite is a little presumptuous. Also, the imposition of Shariah Law is something to be worried about, something which will create hardship for everyone from homosexuals and women to the various non-Muslim animist or folk muslim people in that part of the country.

[Positivist]

And on the slight chance that Azawad does survive as a nation, it will no doubt open itself to the "free market" and foreign banks where it will lose control of it's resources and enslave itself to foreign debt. The people of Azawad's independence will be short lived whether they are recognized by the international community or not.

[lombas]

Genocide Watch gives this 5 out of 8 in the meanwhile.

My questions:

1) What are the goals of the NMLA and what's up with the islamist thing?
2) Does it have popular support? Among Tuareg? Among other northern Malinese?

[lombas]

And on the slight chance that Azawad does survive as a nation, it will no doubt open itself to the "free market" and foreign banks where it will lose control of it's resources and enslave itself to foreign debt. The people of Azawad's independence will be short lived whether they are recognized by the international community or not.

I highly doubt many foreign investors would be interested in northern Mali:

1) It has no agriculture to sustain a workforce, no schooling system to educate it, no infrastructure to start with.
2) Mining happens in the Bambouk Mountains - in the south.
3) Some oil may be found in the north but it's more attractive to start exploitation in Mauretania due to its sea access, better infrastructure and proximity (in Mali exploitation would be hard since it's in the middle of the desert, far from any major centre).

[lombas]

It would have been nice for the Tuareg rebels to find out what the non-Tuareg people of Azawad think about "independence" before declaring it unilaterally. Allowing various ethnic nationalist movements to declare independence without first holding a plebiscite is a little presumptuous. Also, the imposition of Shariah Law is something to be worried about, something which will create hardship for everyone from homosexuals and women to the various non-Muslim animist or folk muslim people in that part of the country.

I think it would be nice for the Tuareg rebels to find out what the Tuareg people think about independence, because from what I read there's not much support there either.

[Positivist]

I highly doubt many foreign investors would be interested in northern Mali:

1) It has no agriculture to sustain a workforce, no schooling system to educate it, no infrastructure to start with.
2) Mining happens in the Bambouk Mountains - in the south.
3) Some oil may be found in the north but it's more attractive to start exploitation in Mauretania due to its sea access, better infrastructure and proximity (in Mali exploitation would be hard since it's in the middle of the desert, far from any major centre).

I'd say that foreign investment would be interested in any scrap of resources or labor if they can pull a profit on it. The world is running out of areas abundant with resources and in exchange for recognition whatever form the government of this country takes will likely be willing to sell off their limited resources cheap. Perhaps they might escape imperial exploitation though I'd contest that a threat of domination remains.

[Orlov]

Self determination and liberation to the Tuareg people, there can only be victory against the imperialist puppet of Mali and it's allies.

[honest john's firing squad]

Self determination and liberation to the Tuareg people, there can only be victory against the imperialist puppet of Mali and it's allies.
You've got to be joking. The MNLA are nothing but ethnic nationalists who should not be aided and abetted by the workers in Mali-Azawad. They are not "progressive" or "revolutionary" in any way, and I'm willing to bet natlib supporters never even cared about the struggle for a "free Azawad" until the events of the last fortnight appeared on their TV screens -- obviously, this is a very close conflict to you.

Get a grip on reality, and quit your ideological posturing.

P.S. the MNLA have already taken to co-operating with local Timbuktu/Tombouctou militias in ensuring the safety of businesses:

Witnesses said rebel fighters were mixing with local Arab militiamen, who have been protecting businesses since troops fled the town.
bbc.co.uk/ news/ world-africa-17576725

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

1) What are the goals of the NMLA and what's up with the islamist thing?


an independent Northern third to half of Mali is the MNLA's goal, the Islamists are supposedly their "allies" but they want to impose Shariah on all of Mali and so the objectives of the two groups are much different-however it sounds like it is the Islamic fundamentalist group which took Timbuktu and Gao, or at least seized a lot of the territory, and not the MNLA.


2) Does it have popular support? ... Among other northern Malinese?From my understanding it doesn't have popular support among non-Tuareg people in the North.


I think it would be nice for the Tuareg rebels to find out what the Tuareg people think about independence, because from what I read there's not much support there either.

True, I have heard this too, though obviously their opinions would be gained from any referendum.


Self determination and liberation to the Tuareg people, there can only be victory against the imperialist puppet of Mali and it's allies.

Except this contradicts the self-determination of all non-Tuareg people in North Mali, and without a plebiscite to back up an independence claim you cannot call it "self-determination" so much as "might makes right"

Even if Azawad becomes an independent republic, you haven't solved the economic and social problem of how a republic in a remote desert region will survive without either (a) attaching to some foreign Imperialist power and/or international Capitalism for support or (b) trying to internationalize the rebellion. Autarky and socialism in one nation didn't work in the case of the USSR, so how would people pull it off in a much smaller and much poorer corner of West Africa?

And you still haven't gotten around the issue of Shariah Law. Don't the Animist Dogon get a right to say that Shariah Law is not what they want? What about women or homosexuals in Azawad who do not want its oppressive conditions?