Tuareg rebels who attacked military camps in north-eastern Mali in May signed a peace agreement on Tuesday with government officials from Bamako, officials said.
The signing took place in Algeria, which brokered the deal, the sources said.
”The government of the republic of Mali has proceeded to sign … a document of accord for the restoration of peace, security and development in the region of Kidal,” a Mali government statement said.
The agreement ”reaffirmed the territorial integrity, national unity as well as the republican and democratic principles and values of Mali,” it said without giving further details.
”It is a good agreement. We will sign, this is peace and everyone is for peace,” said Erlass Ag Idar, the number two leader of the insurgents group that participated in the negotiations.
On May 23, insurgents attacked a number of military bases in the desert region of northern Mali, prompting fears of a return to the violence that plagued the area in the early 1990s.
Malian officials said six people were killed.
The traditionally nomadic Tuaregs have demanded changes in the legal status of the three provinces of the landlocked West African country that they inhabit, and better treatment for Tuareg soldiers in the Malian army.
An Algerian mediator said last week that under the draft accord, the former rebel Tuaregs were no longer demanding autonomy for their region and the government had agreed to speed up development of the three northern provinces.
The mediator said the government had also agreed that Tuareg deserters would be allowed to return to the army, while the rebels had promised to hand back weapons seized from military barracks during the May assault.
The Malian army has been receiving military training from the United States, which is concerned that vast areas in the Sahara straddling borders serve as bases and training areas for armed Islamic extremist movements. – Sapa-AFP