VZCZCXRO5916
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0901/01 3251454
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 201454Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9790
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0506
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000901 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2018 
TAGS:        
SUBJECT: NORTHERN MALI: ALGIERS ACCORDS OPTIMISM 
OVERSHADOWS BAHANGA'S RETURN 
 
REF: BAMAKO 00624 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Aaron Sampson, Embassy Bamako, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.(C) Summary: The Algiers Accords oversight committee met in 
Kidal November 15-17 to discuss reductions in Malian troop 
levels per the Algiers Accords and a timeline for the 
creation of one mixed military unit by December 30.  Ibrahim 
Bahanga, who returned to Mali after a month long sojourn in 
Libya, was invited to participate but did not attend and sent 
no one from his Northern Mali Tuareg Alliance for Change 
(ATNMC) in his place.  On November 18 Bahanga's Paris-based 
father-in-law issued a statement on behalf of the ATNMC 
declaring that no meeting between the Malian government and 
"Tuareg rebels" occurred.  The statement also warned that 
movements by the Malian military could provoke "serious 
repercussions" in the days ahead.  Following the committee 
meeting, Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC) spokesman 
and National Assembly Deputy Ahmada ag Bibi left Kidal to 
return to the ADC's base in Tigharghar to brief fellow ADC 
members, then meet with Ibrahim Bahanga.  Although Mali and 
the ADC appear equally optimistic, clouds still loom on the 
horizon.  Bahanga's position, and the fate of the four Malian 
military officers he is still holding, remain unknown.  Nor 
is it clear who would command a mixed military unit provided 
one is created by the end of December.  End Summary. 
 
----------------- 
Kidal Rendez-Vous 
----------------- 
 
2.(C)  The Algiers Accords oversight committee, composed of 
representatives from the Malian government, Algeria and the 
Tuareg rebel Alliance for Democracy and Change (ADC), 
convened in Kidal on November 15-17 to discuss future steps 
toward implementing the Accords.  ADC spokesman and National 
Assembly Deputy Ahmada ag Bibi led the Tuareg contingent, 
along with fellow rebels Cheick ag Aoussa and Bayen ag 
Akhawali.  Five Malian government Ministers happened to be in 
Kidal during the November 15-17 time frame, but only two of 
these - Minister of Territorial Administration Kafougouna 
Kone and Minister of Internal Security Sadio Gassama - 
participated in talks with the ADC.  The Ministers of 
Tourism, Culture, and Transportation traveled to Kidal to 
celebrate the opening of the Kidal "tourist" season. 
 
3.(C) On November 19 ag Bibi told the Embassy's locally 
employed Tuareg political specialist that the three-way 
discussions produced tangible results and that all of the 
Malian military's check-points and patrols around Kidal would 
be handed over to members of a newly-created mixed military 
unit composed of re-integrated Tuareg rebel fighters and 
Malian soldiers by December 30.  This would fulfill 
stipulations in the Algiers Accords requiring the Malian 
military to reduce its footprint in the north to pre-May 2006 
levels. Ag Bibi left Kidal after the meeting to return to the 
ADC's base in Tigharghar to brief the ADC's rank and file. 
 
4.(C)  Kidal's Governor, Alhamadou ag Illyene, was also 
optimistic.  He told the Embassy that ADC members selected to 
serve in mixed military units would begin returning to Kidal 
as early as December 2 and would help fill the security 
vacuum left by repositioned Malian soldiers.  On November 19 
Kader Bah, who is a senior official within the Ministry of 
Territorial Administration and a close confidant of 
Kafougouna Kone and President Amadou Toumani Toure, confirmed 
that a tentative agreement had been reached but cautioned 
that Algeria was running the show and that Mali's over-riding 
interest for the moment was reducing tensions in Kidal in 
order to ensure the success of upcoming municipal elections 
scheduled for May or June 2009.  Bah complained that that the 
mixed unit was largely an Algerian creation. 
 
----------------- 
All-Drama Bahanga 
----------------- 
 
5.(C)  Ag Bibi told the Embassy he will also try to persuade 
Bahanga to either participate in the Algiers Accords 
implementation process or simply lie low.  Bahanga's return 
to northern Mali was particularly unwelcome.  Many Tuaregs 
believed Bahanga had moved to Libya permanently, citing 
rumors that Bahanga had shifted his family from the Algerian 
town of Tamanrasset to Tripoli and had received a house from 
Qadhafi  One person likely pleased by Bahanga's reappearance 
was Hama ag Sid'Ahmed, Bahanga's Paris-based father-in-law 
and ATNMC spokesman.  In July the Algerian Ambassador to Mali 
prevailed on Sid'Ahmed to restrain his penchant for ill-timed 
 
BAMAKO 00000901  002 OF 002 
 
 
and ill-worded communiques, resulting in several 
statement-free months from Sid'Ahmed (reftel).  Perhaps eager 
to make up for lost time, on November 18 Sid'Ahmed issued a 
statement on behalf of the ATNMC accusing the Malian 
government of "rejecting all attempts for constructive 
dialogue with the Tuareg Alliance" and said the ATNMC 
interpreted this "rejection" as synonymous with an invitation 
to the use of force.  Sid'Ahmed complained that "thousands" 
of Malian soldiers had arrived in Kidal during the week and 
warned that "this provocative statement by Malian government 
authorities could have serious repercussions on the ground in 
the days to come." 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
Comment: Bahanga is in the Details 
---------------------------------- 
 
6.(C)  Optimism emanating from the November 15-17 meeting 
Kidal largely overshadowed concerns regarding Bahanga's 
unwelcome return to northern Mali.  However, members of the 
Algiers Accords oversight committee left, perhaps purposely, 
several sensitive issues unresolved.  One of the most 
important issues is the command of a new mixed unit.  There 
seems to be little consensus within the ranks of Tuareg 
rebels regarding who should command the new unit.  Various 
Tuareg factions have already floated three names.  Kidal's 
ruling Intallah family is believed to favor ADC commander Bah 
Moussa.  Members of the Tuareg Kel Ireyakkan fraction, which 
includes ADC leader Iyad ag Ghali, seem to prefer ADC member 
and Malian army Captain Ibrahim ag Banna.  Bahanga and the 
ATNMC's preferred candidate is probably Hassan Fagaga who 
recently deserted the ATNMC to rejoin the ADC but still 
belongs to Bahanga's Ifergoumessen fraction of Kidal Tuareg 
Ifoghas.  This poses a problem for the Malians since all 
three of these individuals are implicated in the capture and 
killing of Malian soldiers.  Of these, Fagaga is probably the 
least likely choice given his unpredictability and the fact 
that the last time he was named mixed unit commander he went 
AWOL to join Bahanga. 
 
7.(C) Bahanga's position is somewhat weaker than it was 
earlier this year.  Fagaga and other key ATNMC members' 
defection back to the ADC, coupled with Bahanga's turn toward 
Libya, have weakened the ATNMC.  Yet Bahanga still holds four 
Malian military officers as bargaining chips and could derail 
the entire process by embarking on another of his quixotic 
attacks against Malian military patrols. 
MILOVANOVIC