Mali Tuaregs warn of insurrection if no deal brokered on autonomy
Iran Press TV
Sun Aug 4, 2013 6:11PM GMT
Tuareg rebels have threatened to fight Malian newly elected government if no negotiated settlement is brokered to grant their northern homeland of Azawad autonomy.
Moussa Ag Assarid, the European representative of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) made his remarks on Sunday, saying, "We are going to make a proposal... for an autonomy agreement with the central government in Bamako, Malian capital."
"We will continue our struggle democratically but we will take up arms again if we have to," Ag Assarid added.
Tuareg rebels launched an offensive in the north of Mali in January 2012 and chaos broke out two months later after President Amadou Toumani Toure was toppled in a military coup on March 22 in response to the government's inability to contain the Tuareg rebellion.
Shortly, on April 6, 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad declared its independence from the West African country.
The MNLA reluctantly recognized the Malian presidential elections, held on July 28, with the Ag Assarid saying, "We have no preference to express between the two candidates, but whoever is elected will find us on his path."
Meanwhile, a runoff is due on August 11, following the failure of the rivals, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Soumaila Cisse, to secure a majority in the first round.
According to a deal brokered in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in June, an "inclusive dialogue" is expected to open between Tuareg rebels and the new government, 60 days after a cabinet is forged.
MM/PR
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