Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
Interesting to note the famed Tuaregs only constitute 11% of the population in the northern area.
An undercount, perhaps? I am under the impression that about 10% or so of the population of the whole of Mali is Tuareg, though I do not know if a real census has been done in Mali. And the Tuareg do have a tendency to move around, at least if allowed to do so.

I do think the percentage of Tuaregs in the total population begins to decrease as one moves south towards the Niger River. My friend recently noted that Ansar Dine had a hand in a dispute in the Dogon village where she formerly resided. Islamists adjudicating a dispute amongst the Dogon is something that I do not think anyone would have imagined ever happening a year ago!

Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
[…] I am wary […] that there is such a "moderate" element to talk with.
My impression is that the MNLA are moderate in the sense that they are secularists and I have read a couple of commentators claiming that Ansar Dine may be if not necessarily moderate at least pragmatic. I have not seen any similar claims regarding the MUJAO.