A long and difficult road to peace in Northern Mali – speculations concerning plane crash reveal distrust against the Tuareg

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has expressed relief about the signing of a roadmap for peace negotiations between Tuareg rebels and the Malian government in Algiers yesterday evening. „The roadmap for peace negotiations between the conflict parties in northern Mali is a first sign of encouragement. But still, the road to lasting peace is still long and difficult,“ said the STP’s Africa-consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Friday. „Yesterday, the speculations about the crash of Air Algérie flight AH 5017 clearly showed that there is still deep mistrust between the Malian government and the Tuareg.“

Thus, the Malian government had at first falsely stated that the plane had crashed in the Kidal region close to the border, which is controlled by the Tuareg – and journalists had already speculated that rebels might have downed the aircraft. However, when the crash site was investigated in the early hours of Friday, this hypothesis turned out to be unrealistic: according to the authorities in Burkina Faso, the plane crashed about 500 kilometers to the south of the border to Burkina Faso. Shortly before the crash, the pilots had reported bad weather. Thus, the crash was most probably an accident. Due to the fact that the plane was completely destroyed, it is most likely that none of the 116 passengers survived.

„The allegations against the Tuareg will again poison the relationship between the government and the people of Mali and the Tuareg,“ said Delius. „Given the prevailing mistrust, it is hard to imagine that the negotiating parties will soon be able to agree on a sustainable political solution to the Tuareg conflict, which has repeatedly flared up during the past 50 years.“

According to the basic consensus, which was negotiated on Thursday evening under Algerian mediation, the Government of Mali will meet with six Tuareg and Arab rebel movements for peace negotiations in Algiers. The according peace agreement is supposed to be signed in fall of 2014. The negotiations are complicated by the fact that the rebel movements are not speaking with one voice – and the government of Mali has already signaled that it will not grant significant autonomy for the regions in the north of the country which are mainly inhabited by Tuareg, Peuls, Arabs and other ethnic groups.

Ulrich Delius, head of STP’s Africa department, is available for further questions: Tel. 0551 49906 27 or 65]G378o2<:C72.