Bamako – Armed groups in Mali that signed a landmark peace deal have intensified criticism in recent days of the country’s military rulers, calling Thursday for them to clarify their position on the agreement.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) denounced the “bad faith” of the authorities and the “bellicose” public posture of some members of the army-dominated government.
The CMA is an alliance of Tuareg and Arab nationalist groups from the north that rebelled against the central government after the start of insurgencies in 2012 and then signed a peace agreement with Bamako in 2015.
It said that the so-called Algiers peace agreement signed in 2015 with involvement from neighbouring Algeria is the “only link between the government and the Azawad movements”.
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The Algiers agreement provides for the integration of ex-rebels into the Malian defence forces as well as greater autonomy for the regions.
It is considered crucial for the stability of the country, which has been in turmoil since 2012 but its implementation remains at an early stage.
The CMA “regrets the total lack of progress in the implementation of the agreement” under the current authorities, which emerged from two coups in August 2020 and May 2021.
The prime minister installed by the military, Choguel Kokalla Maiga, has in the past called for re-negotiation of certain provisions of the agreement.
The CMA denounced the positions taken by “members of the upper echelons of the state, which are likely to contribute to ongoing confusion about (the) implementation” of the agreement.
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The group called on the government to “clarify its final position in a clear and official manner” and questioned legitimacy of the authorities, saying that the so-called transition period, opened after the military seized power, had “exhausted its ‘legal’ duration”.
The junta reneged on their initial commitment to organise elections on 27 February that would have brought civilians back to power.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter / @FightExtremism
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