Faction Splits From Islamist Group in Northern Mali
Associated Press
Fighters from the Islamic militant group Ansar Dine stood guard during a hostage handover last year in the desert outside Timbuktu, Mali.
By LYDIA POLGREEN - Published: January 24, 2013
SÉGOU, Mali — Ansar Dine, one of the main Islamic militant groups fighting to control Mali, split in two on Thursday when one of its leaders said in a statement published by Radio France Internationale that he would form his own group to seek negotiations to settle the country’s crisis.
Multimedia Turmoil in Mali and the Sahara [embedded video]
The new group, which calls itself the Islamic Movement for the Azawad and is led by Alghabass Ag Intalla, a prominent leader of the Tuareg ethnic group, becomes at least the sixth group to be fighting in an increasingly complex battle to control northern Mali.
Azawad is a Tuareg term for the vast desert region.
Mr. Intalla was described on the French radio station as the heir to the traditional ruler of the remote and sparsely populated Kidal region in the northeast of the country.
He was said to have been among Tuareg representatives who met with Malian diplomats in Ouagadougou, the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, late last year. The talks were an attempt to resolve longstanding Tuareg complaints and lure them away from Islamists from other countries, notably Algeria, who are operating in northern Mali.
French and Malian troops have retaken the central Malian town of Diabaly, which was briefly occupied by one of the Islamist groups. They also claim to have cleared Konna and Douentza, but they have not allowed journalists to visit either town.
The main cities of the north, Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, remain beyond government control.
The latest group to be formed is at least the sixth to join the fray in northern Mali, where groups liked to Al Qaeda have overrun the secular Tuareg nationalists who initially started the latest rebellion early last year.
Mali has been in turmoil since early 2012, when the government’s tepid response to the Tuareg uprising prompted junior army officers to topple the government just before scheduled elections. The coup made matters only worse, as the Tuareg rebels took advantage of the disarray to push farther south, capturing half of the country with the help of Islamic militants.
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