Ali Ag Rhissa, a young Touareg nomad, sits in his tent, his gun ready, on the frontline of one of Mali’s battles — protecting its desert elephants.
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/ 17 February 2009
Hundreds of former Tuareg rebels on Tuesday formally joined Mali’s peace process at a disarmament ceremony in Kidal, marking the end of an uprising.
After recent flare-ups and clashes between the Malian army and Tuareg rebels in northern Mali, the peace process was revived this week.
Tuareg rebels from a new group that has reneged on a peace accord with Mali’s government kidnapped 15 soldiers from an eastern town and fled in the direction of Niger, Malian security officials said on Monday. Several security sources said Tuareg leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga was behind the kidnapping.
Fifteen years of multiparty democracy in Mali has failed to galvanise voters in the poverty-stricken west African nation, who enjoy the dubious honour of being the world’s most ballot-shy electorate. Last week’s presidential election garnered a turnout of around 36% — actually a comparatively high figure given Mali’s past record.
A spokesperson for Mali’s President, Amadou Toumani Touré, on Monday claimed the incumbent leader had a second five-year term in a weekend election, but the opposition countered by crying foul. If confirmed, that would mean Touré won an outright majority in Sunday’s election.
As neighbouring Niger’s food crisis lessens with international aid and a bountiful harvest is predicted next month, western Mali is praying for rain. Whereas in Niger farmers and officials say the rain has returned this year and crops promise to be abundant come September, in Mali it is a different story.
The impoverished African nation of Mali voted in the second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, but with most people ignoring calls to vote and leaving polling stations largely deserted.
When a resident of rebel-held Bouake in Ivory Coast rings the headquarters of the mutineers who seized control here in September to complain that he was robbed, they react fast.