Mali: Armed groups call for a merge into a political movement

In Mali, one of the major parties of the 2015 peace agreement on Saturday called for other groups that share a common core to rally behind one umbrella to form a political movement to represent the Northern parts of the country.

The call was made by the head of the High Council for Azawad Unity (HCUA), which defines itself as a multi-community “politico-military” movement, Alghabass Ag Intalla, at the opening of a “congress” of its movement in Kidal, in the northeast of the country, following prolonged jihadist fighting in Mali and it’s neighboring countries.

This group is one of the components of the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA, a former Tuareg-dominated rebellion) with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the Arab Azawad Movement (MAA).

“The CMA has been in existence for five years (…) Isn’t it relevant to give it a new lease of life,” said the Secretary General of the HCUA, in front of delegates and local leaders from neighbouring Niger and Algeria, and representatives of the UN mission (Minusma), according to the text of his speech received by the AFP.

“We appeal here to the CMA and all other movements sharing the same ideals to merge into a single political movement capable of addressing the concerns of the people of Azawad (the term used by the rebellion to refer to northern Mali, as part of the national construction,” added Alghabass Ag Intalla.

The MNLA, which will also hold a congress in Kidal on 30 November, will “examine this issue so that we can remain in the same dynamic”, said one of its leaders, Billal Ag Cherif, according to comments collected by an AFP correspondent.

Kidal is one of the melting point of fighting in Mali.Taken in 2012 by the jihadist rebels, today it is under the control of former Tuareg separatist rebels who rose up against the central government in 2012 before signing a peace agreement in Algiers in 2015.