The two men haggling over the fate of 14 European hostages held in the wilderness of the Malian desert both have a reputation as tough desert warriors responsible for attacks on government troops in their respective countries.
But there the comparison ends. Iyad Ag Ghali, the Tuareg chief who has emerged as the lead negotiator for the Malian government and German diplomats seeking the safe return of the hostages, is a respected elder in his remote area of north-eastern Mali.
The head of the Algerian Islamic extremist group holding the hostages to a ransom of more than 70 million dollars, Abderrezak Amari, is described as a ruthless army deserter who has turned kidnapping into his trademark.
Ag Ghali touched off rebellion in Mali in 1990 by leading a spectacular attack against an army base at Menaka to achieve recognition of the political and economic rights of the nomad Tuaregs.
As political amd military chief of of the Azaouad Popular Movement (MPA), he told his followers that they should only attack government or army targets, not civilians. But in 1991 he signed an Algerian-mediated peace deal with the army at Tamanrasset in Algeria.
Since then, he has not fired another shot and he has pressured other rebel groups to lay down their arms, according to the vice president of the Malian assembly, Assarid Ag Imbarcaouane.
Ghali (45) who comes from a family of nomadic herders, turned down the offer of a commission in the Malian army to look after his business interests in his region at Kidal, in north-east Mali.
Bearded with a large mustache, and turbanned, he has an imposing aspect.
”Iyad is a calm Olympian,” said one government minister. ”He never panics in the face of a difficult situation.”
Less is known about Amari, who is known as ”le para” from his past as a paratrooper in the Algerian army, and is reportedly demanding $5,5-million for each of the 14 European hostages his group is holding.
In Algeria, no one knows where he comes from, how old he is or even what he looks like, although one report said he usually rides around on a donkey because he suffers from corns. Newspapers in Algiers describe him as ”hard and intransigent” as well as intelligent and calculating.
Possibly a sergeant — the army will not confirm his rank — Amari is reported to have deserted along with several others from the commando base at Biskra 420km south of Algiers. He joined up with Hassan Hattab, then a regional leader of the fundamentalist Armed Islamic Group, and became Hattab’s right-hand man when the latter split from the GIA in 1998 to found the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has alleged links to al-Qaeda.
The GIA is held primarily responsible for the civilian massacres and indiscriminate attacks that have characterised Algeria’s brutal civil war, which has claimed some 150 000 lives since 1992.
The GSPC has focused its attacks on security forces rather than civilians, and Amari is reputed for mounting deadly ambushes on the army as well as kidnapping prominent figures. He is believed to have led an attack early this year in which 49 soldiers were killed.
Amari is said to hold ”trials” in the desert, in which he judges captives before executing them or releasing them for a ransom. – Sapa-AFP