Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

[davidbfpo]

A BBC report announces:

Mali's Tuareg separatist rebels have declared an end to military operations, a statement on their website says. The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) say they have captured enough territory to form their own state. But the position of Islamist insurgents, who fought alongside the Tuareg in northern Mali, is unclear.

There are other updates in the report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17622760

In Timbucktu it looks grim. citing agencies:

The head of Ansar Dine, notorious rebel Iyad Ag Ghaly, has set up base at the town's military camp and has been flanked by three of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's top leaders. Ag Ghaly's men have fought alongside the secular MNLA which wants independence for the desert nomads who originate in the area, however the two groups have very different aims and appear to have fallen out.
Residents and security sources report the Islamists have chased the Tuareg out of Timbuktu, burning their flag and replacing it with their black jihad flag.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...s-in-Mali.html

A snippet following helping two Brits to leave the city:

The couple’s saviors were units of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a nomadic Tuareg force...which did not have an Islamist agenda.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/exp...tu-escape.html

[KingJaja]

In Mali we are dealing with several situations simultaneously.

1. A Military overthrow of an elected civilian government.
2. A mutiny by an ill-equipped and poorly motivated army.
3. The breakdown of military discipline and the command structure of the Army.
4. A popular revolt against the central government by a section of the population (Tuaregs).
5. Infiltration by Al Qaeda.
6. A weak state on the verge of implosion.

Mali urgently needs a renegotiation of its internal political architecture, but the motley crew in Bamako are not in the best position to do it. Will sanctions help stabilise the situation in Mali? I doubt it.

What should the international community do, because instability in Mali puts Niger and Northern Nigeria at risk.

Blind emphasis on point 5 (Al Qaeda infiltration) could be extremely counter-productive