Skip to main content

Africa

United National Antiwar Coalition statement on Africa, published February 13, 2013
http://nepajac.org/africa2.htm

Defender Interview with Ousmane Simaga, Mayor of Segou, Republic of Mali
By Phil Wilayto
Translation by Ana Edwards


RICHMOND, VA; Aug. 1, 2012 – Ousmane Simaga is the mayor of Segou, the second largest city in the Republic of Mali, West Africa. The city of 135,000 is located in southern Mali near a bend of the Niger River, just as Richmond, with its 204,000 people, sits on a bend of the James. Segou and Richmond have an official Sister City relationship. It's not the only connection. As pointed out by local Richmond columnist Michael Paul Williams, the majority of Africans brought to Virginia to be sold into slavery came from the nine West African countries that once were part of the great Malian Empire.

Mayor Simaga was in Richmond from July 24 to Aug. 1 to try and raise funds to help deal with a humanitarian crisis now facing his city. Since March, 7,238 people, nearly 4,000 of them children, have arrived in Segou, displaced by the civil war raging hundreds of miles to the north. Altogether, the conflict has reportedly driven some 260,000 people as refugees into neighboring countries, while internally displacing more than 166,800 (UNHCR Mali Situation Map, 26 July 2012). Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, so resources are already meager, and the influx has presented local governments with formidable challenges. A similar number of new arrivals in Richmond would mean having to provide food, shelter and medical care for more than 11,000 suddenly homeless people.


The following interview was conducted by Phil Wilayto, editor of The Virginia Defender, a quarterly newspaper. Ana Edwards, president of the Richmond-based Virginia Friends of Mali, provided the translation. In 2010, VFOM secured a $115,000 Gates Foundation grant through Sister Cities International that Segou used to renovate sanitary facilities and a maternity clinic in the city. The all-volunteer group is now trying to raise $24,000 to obtain a grant from Project CURE, which could result in $450,000 in medical equipment and supplies for Segou's hospital and medical clinics. VFOM hosted the mayor's visit to Richmond.

Married with three daughters, Mayor Simaga, 52, makes his living in transport and tourism. He also is vice president of the Segou's Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. His family has lived in Segou since 1875.

Defender: What effect have developments in Northern Mali had on Segou?Mayor Simaga: The first effect is on the territories in the North. It has affected them administratively, schools are closed, health care is not available in the same way it has been and people are leaving. In Segou, therefore, it increases the population. Everyone who comes in from the North, we count them, so we know how many there are, how many are male, female, how many are older. These are the officially counted numbers. (7,238) Others may have arrived but may not have been counted.
Do you anticipate the numbers increasing, or have they leveled off?As long as the crisis continues, the numbers will continue to rise.

How is this influx of people affecting the ability of the government of Segou to care for its own people, as well as the new arrivals?That is the point of this trip, reaching out to the Virginia Friends of Mali, the elected officials of Richmond. It's a serious and delicate situation. Families in Segou are just able to feed themselves, so the additional need to feed families and friends who are displaced is just too much. And the pressure on the mayor's office is that, when people arrive, it is incumbent to deliver services, free of charge.

Are you able to do that now?Right now, yes, in terms of providing identification and other documents. And we received $2,000 from Virginia Friends of Mali, and we are already using that, at two health clinics, for refugee children whose conditions were weak or they were ill. We have raised additional funds to accompany that. Also, 7,000 euros (about $8,600) from Segou's sister city in France, Angouleme. That was 5,000 from the city and 2,000 from the local organization (like the Virginia Friends of Mali).

Are the new arrivals living in people's homes or in camps?All the families who have come to Segou have received help from their families. In Segou, they tend to live with family members. Outside of Mali, they tend to end up in camps.

What help do you expect to get from the central government?They can't do much, but they have sent cereal, sugar and milk. We have also received help from Programme Alimentaire Mondial (the World Food Program of the United Nations). Help from the central government at best will last one to two months, but until things are resolved, the problem will continue. So it's clear the situation will get worse in one or two months. It depends on how ECOWAS, the U.N. and the African Union respond. (The 15-country Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, was founded in 1975 to promote regional economic integration.)

Are you receiving any help from Non Government Organizations, the NGOs?Yes, from small NGOs and individuals who have the means and who are also helping in the North. But it's not enough, because most NGOs have already left Mali or have stopped their programs because there is no security.
How about from other individual states?Niger, Mauritania, Algeria and Burkina Faso have taken large numbers of refugees and are supporting them. Algeria has given several tons of rice to Mali. There may be more help, but I'm not sure.

How about from the United States?Not at this point, but I'm not sure.

And ECOWAS?The prime minister (of Mali) is going to the U.N. next next week to present the situation concretely and the request will be for ECOWAS to be prepared to help financially – especially for the U.N. to help ECOWAS financially, then ECOWAS will take care of the situation.

What will you be asking for at tomorrow's meeting with Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones? Financial assistance?Yes, for financial assistance for food, education and for health care. I want to be able to present the situation in Mali directly to him.

What can ordinary Virginians do to help, especially with the needs in Segou?It's a complicated question. I have confidence that the Virginia Friends of Mali will help spread the word, that they will help educate the people of Virginia about the situation.

If people want to make a contribution themselves, how can they do this?They could donate the money through the Virginia Friends of Mali, with the confidence that it would come to Segou.

Anything else you would like to share?We have a problem, but we are optimistic that we will overcome. Mali is a great country with a great history. I am confident that Mali's ship will make it, that it will sail these stormy waters and arrive intact.

To make a contribution by PayPal, regular mail or in person to help relieve the humanitarian crisis in Segou, please visit the Virginia Friends of Mali website: VaFriendsOfMali.org.


--------------------------

U.S. Hands Off Mali!

An Analysis of the Recent Events in the Republic of Mali

By the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality – Richmond, Virginia, USA
April 4, 2012

Recent developments in the West African Republic of Mali are raising serious concerns about the possibility of yet another U.S. intervention. On March 22, one month before a scheduled presidential election, a military coup toppled the government of President Amadou Toumani Toure. Quickly taking sides, the regional 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded the coup leaders restore civilian rule. On March 26, the U.S. cut off all military aid to the impoverished country.

On April 1, coup leader Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, who has received military training in the U.S. (1) and who is charging massive corruption by civilian political leaders, said he had reinstated the country's constitution and government institutions and would begin consultations to form a transitional government, which would be “responsible for organizing peaceful, free open and democratic electionsin which we will not participate.” Those national consultations were to begin April 5 in the capital city of Bamako.

That was not enough for ECOWAS, an economic and military bloc with ties to the U.S. Meeting April 2 in Dakar, Senegal, the alliance closed their countries' borders with land-locked Mali and imposed severe sanctions, including cutting off access to the regional bank, raising the possibility that Mali will soon be unable to pay for essential supplies, including gasoline.

Meeting the following day in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the 54-member African Union imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Capt. Sanogo and his associates. Also on April 3, the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on the Mali crisis and declared its support for ECOWAS' efforts “to restore order in Mali. U.N. political affairs chief Lynn Pascoe told the council on Tuesday that ECOWAS had placed some 3,000 troops on standby to deal with the coup and rebellion in Mali.” (2)

Roots of the coup

What sparked the coup was the central government's inability to deal with the rebellion now under way in northern Mali, a region populated by the Tuareg, an ethnically Berber, nomadic people who eke out a living in the inhospitable desert. Long-standing grievances of neglect by the government have led many Tuaregs to despair of reform.

The simmering resentment came to a head in January after the U.S.-led bombing of Libya and the overthrow of that country's government. Around 2,000 Tuaregs who had been employed as soldiers by the Libyan government returned to Mali, heavily armed and with uncertain prospects of finding jobs or arable land. A rebellion broke out, one the elected government was in no position to counter, provoking a mutiny by angry rank-and-file Malian soldiers who chased Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Touré into hiding. The Tuareg rebellion sharply escalated on March 30 when rebels seized control of three key cities, including the legendary cultural and trading center of Timbuktu.

The armed rebels who now control all northern cities have several factions. One wing is demanding independence for the north. Another says its goal is to create an Islamic republic operating under strict Sharia law – which might be all of Mali or simply the northern half, which this faction is calling Azawad. The conflict has reportedly driven some 100,000 people as refugees into neighboring countries, while internally displacing more than 90,000.

Meanwhile, important independent forces within Mali and in the sub-region are calling for an end to outside pressure and a peaceful resolution to both the coup and the rebellion.

Will the U.S. intervene?

What raises concerns about a possible U.S. role are the important geopolitical position that Mali occupies, the fact that the U.S. military is already in the country and the presence of known oil reserves under the desert sands of northern Mali.

Mali is strategically located between the Arab African north and the Black African south. This largely Muslim country borders seven other countries: (clockwise from the northeast) Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote-d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania. This makes Mali of interest to the U.S., which seeks to counter the growing Chinese economic presence in Africa. (China is now Mali's largest export trading partner.)

Under the umbrella of its Africa Command, or AFRICOM, the U.S. has been systematically developing ties with the militaries of African countries, including Mali. Washington annually contributes about $140 million to Mali, half of it supposedly for humanitarian purposes, the other half to support “development” and the Malian military, an organization of just 7,000 soldiers. The U.S. State Department handpicks Malian officers for special training in the U.S.

Over the past few months, almost every incoming flight to Bamako has brought a dozen U.S. soldiers, obvious by their haircuts and by the greeting party that usually includes a couple of men in U.S. army uniform. (3) No one will say how many U.S. military personnel are based in Mali, but there is no doubt that AFRICOM sees Mali as highly strategic to its goals in Africa.

In February 2008, AFRICOM representatives participated in a five-day “Strategic Level Seminar” held in Bamako and sponsored by ECOWAS. According to AFRICOM's website, “The seminar focused on the training needs of ECOWAS member states in the area of peace support operations.” (4) In other words, regional military cooperation. Further, “West African leaders' perspectives concerning their regional environment focused overwhelmingly on human security issues, rather than the state-versus-state competition that has been the hallmark of international politics.” (5) So this was a meeting to discuss internal security issues, like popular unrest and rebellions. Among the speakers at the seminar was U.S. Army Gen. William E. “Kip” Ward, AFRICOM's commander. The seminar was co-sponsored by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, an outfit funded by the U.S. Defense Department. (4)

Then there's the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, a “multi-faceted, multi-year U.S. Government (USG) program created to promote regional military cooperation among governments in the 'Pan-Sahel,'” including Mali. (6)

In 2010, there was Exercise Flintlock 10, a “special operations forces exercise, conducted by Special Operations Command Africa with participation of key European nations,” focusing on “military interoperability and capacity-building with partner nations throughout the Trans-Saharan region of Africa.” (7)

In February 2012, there was Atlas Accord 12, an “annual-joint-aerial-delivery exercise, hosted by U.S. Army Africa,” which “brings together U.S. Army personnel with militaries in Africa to enhance air drop capabilities and ensure effective delivery of military resupply materials and humanitarian aid.” (8) This took place while the Tuareg rebellion was unfolding in the north.

The Africa Command had planned to hold Flintlock 2012 in Mali last month, but canceled because of the
insurgency. The exercise was supposed to bring together security forces from West Africa, Europe and the U.S to coordinate “counterterrorism” missions. (1)

From empire to colony to neocolony

For centuries, present-day Mali was the center of the mighty Mali-Sonrai Empire, with a land area larger than Europe, important gold mines and a full-time army to defend its borders. By the 19th century, however, the central power had been greatly weakened and between 1880 and 1916 the region was colonized by France, which took over scarce farmland for cotton production.

When they were finally forced out of Africa in 1960, the French left behind desperately poor countries. Today Mali remains the 23rd poorest country on earth, with the 49th lowest life expectancy – barely 53 years. It is one of eight countries currently facing drought and severe food shortages in the Sahel, the vast region that forms the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

A country of 14.5 million people, Mali is a study in contradictions. Twice the size of Texas, it is one of Africa's largest but least populated countries. Rich in deposits of gold, phosphates, kaolin and salt, its people have an annual per capita purchasing power of just $1,300. Less than 4 percent of its land is capable of growing irrigated crops. It has the world's third highest birth rate and the third highest infant mortality. Just 56 percent of its people have access to decent drinking water and all of them face a high risk of contracting malaria and waterborne diseases. Less than half the population can read and write, with few receiving more than an elementary school education. With no oil or gas production of its own, the country is dependent on others for its energy needs. Total annual spending by the federal government is $2.6 billion. (Virginia's budget, with half Mali's population, currently is $41.7 billion. One particular legacy of colonialism is the desperately poor condition of the Tuareg, who along with Moors make up about 10 percent of the population.

It has been known for decades that vast oil deposits likely lie beneath the sands of the northern desert regions – a fact that has been elaborately denied by successive U.S. ambassadors, although the oil deposits had been predicted in the 1950s by French geologists. In February of this year, two foreign companies signed oil and gas exploration deals with the Malian government “that oblige them to invest millions of US dollars in the search of petroleum in the country's vast desert. Both Algeria's national oil company SONATRACH and the Canadian owned Selier Energy say that the vast Taoudeni basin, at Mali's borders with Mauritania and Algeria, shows great potential for major oil and gas discoveries.” (9) In a world hungry for energy resources, who will get control of these reserves? U.S. strategists are fearful of China’s growing influence, adding competition to greed as a motive to control the area.

In crisis, U.S. sees opportunity

It's not hard to see how Washington would view the present crisis as an opportunity to gain control, directly or indirectly, of this important African country. The U.S., along with most European countries, has condemned the March 22 coup, but has made no mention of the grievances of the Tuareg. (Coups themselves are not universally condemned by the U.S., which not only did not condemn, but is strongly suspected of being behind, the June 2009 coup against progressive Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.)

Regional economic sanctions will inevitably weaken Mali’s government, making it even less able to provide for the needs of the Malian people, including the Tuareg. Inevitably, there will be calls for the U.S. to intervene – for purely humanitarian reasons, of course. We have seen this pattern before, in Iraq, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Haiti and in many other countries. With its listening base in Tessalit near the Algerian border and its February Atlas Accord exercise on airlifting humanitarian relief, the U.S. is well-positioned to start flying military aircraft into northern Mali, giving it “boots on the ground,” with a cover.

We believe that the U.S. military has no legitimate role to play in any other country, especially those formerly colonized and exploited by the Western powers. Humanitarian aid should be managed by the United Nations, not by the Pentagon.

Neither does the U.S government have the right to impose sanctions on other countries, whether it be Cuba, Iran or Mali. Only the people of Mali have the right to decide their own destiny. This is the simple right of oppressed peoples to self-determination.

We say: U.S. Hands Off Mali! No Troops, No Sanctions, No Interference of Any Kind!

Contact the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality at: (804) 644-5834 or DefendersFJE@hotmail.com
Sources:
  1. “Leader of Mali military coup trained in U.S.” - Washington Post, March 23, 2012 
  2. “U.N. council alarmed by al Qaeda presence in Mali” - Reuters, April 4, 2012 
  3. Personal correspondence 
  4. “AFRICOM Senior Leader Visits Mali, Meets President” - U.S. Africa Command, Feb. 29, 2008 - http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=1662&lang=0 
  5. “Transparency in Mali” - U.S. Africa Command, March 6, 2008 - http://www.africom.mil/africomDialogue.asp?entry=151&lang= 
  6. The Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership – U.S. Africa Command - http://www.africom.mil/tsctp.asp 
  7. “Snapshot: Bamako, Mali” - U.S. Africa Command, May 27, 2010 - http://www.africom.mil/africomDialogue.asp?entry=1247&lang=0 
  8. “U.S., Malian Military Medics Train to Save Lives” - U.S. Africa Command, Feb. 10, 2012 - http://www.africom.mil/getArticle.asp?art=7618&lang=0 
  9. “Finally serious oil explorations in Mali” - Afrol News, Feb. 14, 2012 - http://www.afrol.com/articles/24339 

------------------------------

From the NY TIMES
Mali Rebels Proclaim Independent State in North

By LYDIA POLGREEN and ALAN COWELL
Published: April 6, 2012

Tuareg rebels who overran much of northern Mali after disaffected soldiers toppled the government in the south declared an independent state called Azawad on Friday, cementing the division of the former French colony as its neighbors began drawing up plans for military action to tackle the twin crises of the coup and the apparent secession.

Enlarge This Image


Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A man in Bamako read a newspaper commenting on the situation in the north this week.
Related
France Rules Out Sending Troops to Mali as Rebels Proclaim Ceasefire(April 6, 2012)

The declaration came within 24 hours of the northern rebels declaring a cease-fire, saying they had completed military operations after achieving their objectives — the capture of a string of settlements in a lightning advance across the desert north of the country.

In a declaration on its Web site, the rebellious National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad said it proclaimed “irrevocably the independent state of Azawad, starting from this day, Friday April 6, 2012.”

The declaration said the rebels recognized the inviolability of their borders with neighboring countries and promised to draw up a democratic constitution.

The proclamation will likely alarm Western powers who have voiced fears that Islamic militants aligned with the separatists want to turn the remote and poor reaches of northern Mali into a redoubt for the regional affiliate of Al Qaeda.

Seeking legitimacy for their declaration, the rebels on Friday cited the charter of the United Nations and separatist ambitions dating to 1958, two years before Mali’s independence from France, and urging foreign powers to recognize Azawad’s status as a new nation.

Recognition, however, seemed unlikely in the turmoil following the coup further south in the capital, Bamako, where Mali’s main political parties have refused to participate in a national conference called by the military junta that toppled the country’s democratically elected president last month.

France, an important regional player, dismissed the independence declaration on Friday, with Defense Minister Gérard Longuet saying a unilateral declaration “which is not recognized by African states would not have any meaning for us.” Algeria, which shares a desert border with Mali, was reported on Friday to have opposed the partition of its neighbor.

Since the wave of independence a half century ago, few, if any, African governments have been comfortable with notions of partition or secession, fearful of similar separatist pressures in their own countries in a continent where colonial-era frontiers often ignore traditional affiliations.

In an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde on Friday, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia of Algeria, said his country favored a settlement of Mali’s crisis through dialogue. “Algeria will never accept questioning the territorial integrity of Mali,” Mr. Ouyahia said.

On Thursday, the leader of Mali’s new military junta, which has said it seized power because of the civilian government’s ineffective handling of the Tuareg uprising in the north, pleaded for international help in fighting the Tuaregs in an interview with the French newspaper Libération.

“If the great powers were able to cross oceans to fight against the Islamists, what prevents them from coming to us?” asked the junta leader, Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, alluding to the war in Afghanistan.

But such assistance is unlikely. On Thursday, France ruled out a “military solution” to counter the Tuareg rebels in the north.

The declarations by the main Tuareg rebel group came after other rebel fighters, who helped seize the ancient city of Timbuktu over the weekend, were quoted by local officials as saying that they planned to impose Islamic law there.

The country is effectively divided between the south, controlled by midranking officers who overthrew what had been seen internationally as a democratic government, and the rebels in the north, who have been strengthened by an influx of arms and fighters since the collapse of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s rule in Libya.

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Mali’s representative said the nation had never faced a graver crisis. “Our people are divided,” Ambassador Omar Daou said. “Our country is threatened with partition.”

In Paris, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, told reporters that there would be “no military solution with the Tuaregs — there needs to be a political solution.” He urged neighboring countries like Algeria and Mauritania to press for a political settlement.

Mr. Juppé said France would not send its own troops to oppose the rebellion, but would be willing to offer logistical support for a regional force to support the Bamako authorities, specifically to fight Islamists linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb while negotiations got under way with secular Tuaregs.

Military commanders from the regional grouping known as Ecowas, which has suspended Mali and imposed economic sanctions against the nation because of the coup, met on Thursday in Ivory Coast to discuss their contributions to a 2,000-strong standby force to be created for possible intervention in Mali, The Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of the Islamic rebel group known as Ansar ud-Din, said that following the proclamation of Islamic law in Timbuktu, women would be required to wear veils, thieves would be punished by having their hands severed and adulterers would be stoned to death, according to local officials and a radio journalist quoted by The A.P.

Mali in Crisis: Timbuktu Taken by the MNLA

ECOWAS imposes sanctions as tension escalates in Bamako
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Timbuktu, the ancient city in northern Mali, has been taken by the Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). The ongoing war for the control of the northern regions of this West African state has created
a strong reaction from throughout the region.

A military coup took place in the capital of Bamako on March 21 deposing President Amadou Toumani Toure. The coup has drawn condemnation from the regional Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS). the United States, the European Union and other
international bodies.

Under pressure from outside and inside the country, the military junta
headed by Capt. Amadou Sanogo announced on April 1 that they would
re-instate the national constitution and hold elections aimed at a
transition back to civilian rule. This came in the aftermath of a
failed trip to Bamako by a group of ECOWAS leaders headed by Blaise
Compaore of Burkina Faso.

The ECOWAS airline carrying a delegation of West African leaders was
returned in mid-air amid reports of demonstrations in the capital in
favor of the military regime. Later on April 2, the ECOWAS regional
organization met in Dakar, Senegal for several hours to discuss the
situation in Mali.

According to the Associated Press, “The head of the body representing
West African nations says the bloc is imposing financial sanctions on
Mali because the junior officers that seized power in a coup 12 days
ago have failed to restore constitutional order.” (April 2) After the
meeting, the regional ECOWAS leader Alassane Ouattara emerged stating
“that sanctions, including the closing of Mali’s land borders and the
cutting off of the nation’s access to the regional central bank, would
go into effect immediately.”

Significance of the Seizure of Timbuktu

With the capture of Timbuktu by the MNLA, the consolidation of their
forces in the north of the country appeared to have been completed.
The MNLA is led by the Tuareg people who have been marginalized since
the post-independence period of the last five decades.

Since the war began in Libya during February 2011 and the intervention
of the U.S. and NATO who imposed regime change and the rule of the
National Transitional Council (NTC) rebel army, the situation in North
and West Africa has witnessed greater instability. Many Tuaregs had
lived in Libya for years and maintained close ties with former
Jamahiriya leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, who was brutally assassinated
at the aegis of Washington on October 20. With the political and
economic situation in Libya becoming extremely hostile towards Black
Libyans and Africans from other parts of the continent, thousands of
Tuaregs relocated back inside of Mali.

These Tuaregs were well armed and trained having fought alongside the
Libyan government in the war to protect the sovereignty of the North
Africa state. Upon re-entering northern Mali, a new re-configured
movement was formed known as the MNLA which made rapid gains in their
aims of taking control of the north of the country.

The impact of the fighting in northern Mali since January has created
even greater instability and dislocation of civilians. It is estimated
that some 200,000 Malians have been displaced, many of whom are
fleeing the country.

Although the military junta in Bamako said that the precipitating
factor in their seizure of power from President Toure was the
inadequate performance of the administration in handling the war in
the north against the MNLA, since March 21, the Tuareg fighters have
made tremendous gains on the battlefield. Malian troops have abandoned
their posts in Gao and were easily overrun in Timbuktu.

In an article published in the Associated Press on April 2, it states
that “In Gao, the largest city in the north which fell to the amalgam
of rebel groups on Saturday (March 31), residents said that they no
longer know who is in charge.”

One student in the city, Ahmed Ould Fneiny, said that “In Gao, its
chaos. We don’t even know who controls the city, and who is doing
what. We see Ansar Dine with their flag. We see the MNLA. We are
seeing other Tuareg and Arab groups which deserted from the Malian
army.”

Fneiny went on to say “There are people in military uniforms who have
stolen all the cars, even the private cars of civilians. We can’t
leave the city. One liter of gasoline is now 1,000 franc ($2) whereas
it was 650 francs ($1.3) yesterday.”

Ansar Dine, an Islamic group in the north of Mali, is said to have
links with al-Qaeda. It has been characterized by its belief in sharia
law.

The relationship between Ansar Dine and the MNLA is not yet clear. It
appears that the MNLA includes both secular and religious factions.

Reports indicate that Ansar Dine have been seen in a convoy of 10 cars
carrying the Black Flag, its symbol. At the Cheikh Fort Sidi Elbakaye
military camp in Timbuktu they are said to have planted their flag as
well.

An Associated Press article stated that “In Kidal and Gao, the
Islamist faction took the lead early on, and shopkeepers reported that
the rebels went from business to business telling merchants to take
down pictures deemed un-Islamic. A hairdresser said he was made to
take down the photographs he had put up showing different hairstyles
because the images showed uncovered women.” (April 2)

A Reuters journalist indicated that “in the northern city of Gao,
seized by rebels on Saturday (March 31), Islamists there were
ransacking bars and hotels serving alcohol. In Kidal, the third main
city of the region, one resident told reporters that music had been
barred from radio stations and Western-style clothes had been banned.”
(Reuters, April 2)

Timbuktu is an ancient city of African culture and Islamic education.
It has also been a tourist attraction for westerners seeking to
witness the historic center of traditional Africa prior to the
intervention of European slavery and colonialism.

The changing of its character will have a profound impact on the
nation of Mali. It remains to be seen what effect the ECOWAS sanctions
and the backtracking of the rebel military junta will have on the
political will of the people of the south to re-group their forces to
take back the cities in the north of the country.

Also if the sanctions are imposed on Mali by ECOWAS and other western
states, will this further exacerbate the conflict inside the country?
Is ECOWAS prepared to send a regional military force into Mali aimed
at both quelling the rebellion in the north as well as putting down
the military coup in Bamako?

Prospects for Malian Security and the Role of Imperialism

Since the war in Libya has brought about greater instability inside
the country as well as in neighboring Mali, it demonstrates clearly
the failed character of imperialism in North and West Africa. Inside
of Libya, the country remains lawless with efforts underway in the
east and the south which could lead to the partitioning of the
country.

In Mali, the fighting intensified after the war in Libya created
massive dislocation of several million people including thousands of
Tuaregs who had supported the Gaddafi government. The Malian
government under President Toure was a strong participant in the U.S.
so-called “anti-terrorism” initiatives in West Africa.

The U.S. has provided training, joint-military exercises, military
education and direct payments to soldiers in Mali. It has been
reported that approximately $140 million in annual assistance is
provided to the country.

The aims of the Tuaregs organizations may vary between the MNLA and
Ansar Dine. The MNLA in a statement indicated that they want a
separate homeland for the people of the north of the country. The MNLA
said that their “mission is defending and securing the territory of
the Azawad for the happiness of the people.”

Two major figures in the MNLA are General Secretary Bila Ag Cherif and
Mohamed Ag Najim, who leads the military wing. Inside the Ansar Dine,
the leading personality appears to be Iyad Ag Ghali who has been
active in Tuareg resistance efforts for many years.

The Ansar Dine may not want a separate homeland for the Tuareg people
but have indicated their desire to impose sharia law on the entire
country. There may be increased tensions between both the MNLA and
Ansar Dine as the political and military situations unfold inside the
north as well as throughout Mali as a whole.

France, which is the former colonial power in Mali, has stated that it
is not interested in engaging in a direct military intervention in the
country. Nonetheless, France is involved in other African states such
as Ivory Coast, Gabon, Libya and Somalia.

Alain Juppe, the foreign minister in Paris, said that he would consult
with the United Nations Security Council about developments in Mali.
Based on the recent history of France, the U.S. and the United Nations
in Africa, it would not be wise to rule out possible direct or
indirect military intervention by the imperialist states in Mali.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION PROJECT--
E MAIL: panafnewswire@gmail.com
==============================
Related Web Sites
http://panafricannews.blogspot.com
http://mecawi.org

------------------------

Toward African freedom in Libya and beyond

By Molefi Kete Asante
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 12:04 AM EDT

The fundamental stimulus of the attack on Libya is greed, not the protection of the Libyan people. In fact, the people of Libya have suffered more during this bombardment by Western powers and their allies than during the entire 41 years of the leadership of Muammar al-Gaddafi.

There are several rationales that have been advanced in the public for the reason for the assault on Libya. The attackers have said that Gaddafi has used force against his own people. They say that they are trying to prevent revenge attacks on the people who have risen against the leader of Libya. They also say that Gaddafi’s government has lost its legitimacy. None of these arguments make much sense in reality, and they conceal the attempt at exploitation, appropriation of Libyan petroleum and colonial incursion to demonstrate the will of the West in Africa.

We have yet to have a clear view of the attacks made upon the Libyan people by their government. If anything, the actions of the Libyan government in Tripoli appear restrained despite the agitation caused by a vocal minority. In the United States in 1965, when I was a young college student, I witnessed the actions of the National Guard on the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Nearly 40 people were killed in a confrontation with American government authorities.

Governments fight to maintain their legitimacy; this is the law of sustaining power. When President Bush reached the lowest point of his popularity among the American people, he was still considered the president. Gaddafi has not lost any legitimacy because groups of his people, influenced by social media, went to the streets to demonstrate against him. Popularity has rarely been the standard by which governments must be overthrown.

Furthermore, there were no African mercenaries fighting against the people of Libya as reported by the media; the Black people that the Western media experts saw were Libyans.

Although we can and should argue about the need for what Ron Daniels calls the “act of internal criticism” in African governments, there can be no argument about the necessity for Africans to solve their own problems. We must be clear that the attack on Libya is an attack on Africa. One of the reasons that the French, the Americans and the British could not reach an agreement with the African Union to bomb Libya is because the political intelligence of African leaders has grown tremendously since the crises in Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia and Egypt. The African Union knows that Gaddafi’s leadership on questions of African unity is among the most prominent.

Few African leaders have been as active in assisting the continent economically and administratively as Gaddafi. He has used his country’s wealth to create a strong economy in Libya as well as to support civil servants in other African nations. We must not be beguiled by the Western media in its rush to remove one of the strongest African leaders from his post.

Gaddafi has minced no words about his support for and belief in the United States of Africa. Indeed, he knows that if Africa is divided between Northern and Southern states, or if Africa keeps existing as 54 independent states, the Western nations and the North American nations of Canada and United States will eat each part of Africa alive. They will not be able to swallow a continent that is united, firm in its convictions, and dedicated to the liberty of its territory.

No one has shouted any louder than Gaddafi that Africa must be for the Africans. In this he reminds us of the clarion voice of Marcus Garvey. With the fall of Tunisia, Libya, and possibly Morocco and Algeria, France will have succeeded in its major plan to bring those states, especially oil-producing Libya, into a grand Mediterranean Basin clique. In such a scenario the northern part of Africa will be declared the southern ridge of the European nation to the north. Gaddafi has been one of the major opponents of this neo-hegemony over African territory.

A United Africa would be a step toward overcoming disease, transportation problems, famine and land disputes. In our judgment we should not be so fast to criticize Gaddafi just because Western governments call for such an action. If they say that he is punishing his people, denying them free speech and keeping them from education, this must be proven.

Furthermore, why hasn’t the Western world rolled into Israel or the West Bank and saved the Palestinian people who suffer true slaughter and discrimination at the hands of Israel? What is Gaza, if not the pits of hell? When shall we hear high-sounding words from the leaders of the Western world in support of those Arabs? Africans must beware of the gifts of Europe.

Since Kwame Nkrumah, Africa has rarely had a visionary as broad in thinking and as dedicated in commitment as Gaddafi. Perhaps in his desire to strengthen the continent and to make Africa powerful he went too far with his donations to the governments of Senegal, Chad, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe, and did not do enough for the Libyan people.

No African nation was among those who came out to attack Libya on March 19. President Sarkozy of France has reported that some Arab nations supported the campaign against Libya, but even if that proves to be so one must not read too much into this without some appreciation of the Arab distress with Gaddafi’s pro-African stance. Transformations are produced by those who are focused on long-term goals, not by those who make convenient alliances with the enemies of their people. As Nkrumah was fond of saying, “We face neither East nor West; we face forward.”

It has been Gaddafi who has made Nkrumah’s mantra his own; “Africa must unite or perish.” Why would this language threaten the West? The Libyan leader has encountered, and continues to encounter, attempted setbacks and hurdles. The work of the Brother Leader, as he is sometimes called, has been to raise African consciousness to the point that some of the nations on the continent of Africa begin to reject the loyalty they hold for their colonial masters. Some African leaders seem to fear other Africans. Gaddafi has proposed that Africa do away with travel restrictions, create a common currency and ease trade tariffs and barriers. This African solidarity is not only a threat to the West—some who identify as Arabs have a difficult time accepting the Africanity promoted by Gaddafi.

With the proper safeguards and cooperation of the African world, the Libyan people can sort out their own internal squabbles. The great danger of the attacks on Libya is that they are being used by the U.S. to test the effectiveness of AFRICOM, the African Command, and this adventure will open the door to direct military intervention in Africa. We already know that the U.S. and the former colonial powers of France and England are re-inventing Cold War policies to enlarge and protect their economic interests on the continent.

The attack on Libya is also a challenge to Brazil, Venezuela, China, Iran and Russia for influence on the continent. However, beyond the economic argument is the moral argument for African people. Why should a group of dissidents be able to challenge their state and cause international hegemonic forces to invade their land? Who is to blame for this political folly? We do not see the collapse of the Libyan government, and we support the masses of Libyan people against the tyranny of a minority. When Africa needed Gaddafi he was always present—now that Libya needs Africa, let it be said that Africa will be present on the side of the legitimate government of the people of Libya.

Molefi Kete Asante is international representative of Afrocentricity International and author of “The History of Africa.”

Copyright © 2011 – New York Amsterdam News

Uniting the Black Left Everywhere
The Black Liberation Movement must be more than the spontaneity of the Black masses. It must provide a national framework with an internationalist perspective and strategic organizing components that seek to unite the thinking and actions of the many struggles around a program for revolutionary change. Thus, the Black liberation movement must have conscious activists that work together to give the spontaneous struggles a conscious program and direction; an assessment of the balance of forces on the side of the oppressor and the oppressed; and provide a global context for understanding their struggles for a better world. BLUN has published a discussion statement for participants (and everyone else) of the upcoming DURBAN + 10 conference in New York City, Sep. 19-24, 2011 which, among other issues, commemorates the 10th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban South Africa and which was notable for the US delegation having walked out on it.

AFROAMERICAS - Group for * Afrodescendants * - Afrodescendientes - of the Americas: Caribbean, South, Central and North America - the people and communities of the historic populations of African Descent of the Americas whose ancestors were trafficked from many parts of Africa to all parts of the Americas in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Post in the language(s) that works for you: espanol, portugues, kreyol, english, francais, papiamento, nederlands, etc. This group is open to our friends, relations and allies - everyone who supports the Afrodescendants of the Americas. What's on your mind? Annuncios?? Que pasa de nuevo? What's happening where you are?

A Black Agenda Radio COMMENTARY
by Black Agenda Report editor and columnist Jared A. Ball

The recently deceased Manning Marable’s long-waited book on Malcolm X has generated both praise and disgust. Much of the heat, predictably, surrounds Marable’s claims of Malcolm’s homosexuality and he and his wife’s “mutual adultery.” Karl Evanzz, for example, has said that Marable’s book is a “fraud” and a “failure,” while others use the terms “definitive” and “meticulous.” Given the centrality of Malcolm’s life and work to modern Black political thought, it is essential that Marable’s book be discussed by the largest number of activists and influencers – in the most serious and critical manner.

LIBYA: Peace and security - While not condoning the social strictures within the country, the African Union votes to support Libya's leader... read more Pan-African News Wire - "the world's only international daily Pan-African news source" by Abayomi Azikiwe.

---------------------------------------

AFRICAN UNION
African Diaspora Task Team of the African Union
c/o The Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations, 305 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017
Tel. : 212-319-5490, Fax: 319-7135 email: AUDTT2011@gmail.com

BLACK LEFT UNITY & BLACK LEFT LIBERATION
The Black Liberation Movement must be more than the spontaneity of the Black masses. It must provide a national framework with an internationalist perspective and strategic organizing components that seek to unite the thinking and actions of the many struggles around a program for revolutionary change.


Thus, the Black liberation movement must have conscious activists that work together to give the spontaneous struggles a conscious program and direction; an assessment of the balance of forces on the side of the oppressor and the oppressed; and provide a global context for understanding their struggles for a better world.

The fragmentation of the Black Liberation Movement resulting from the U.S. government attacks and the ideological errors during the late 1960s and 1970s, and further impacted by the demise of major zones of socialism as the main bases of support for the anti-imperialist struggles worldwide, has made it difficult to forge unity among enough Black left forces to effectively intervene in crucial struggles like the political disenfranchisement of Black people in Florida and Ohio that installed Bush Jr. as U.S. president in 2000 and 2004 and Katrina in 2005.

When the forces in the Black Liberation Movement who make big demands for redress on the system for its crimes against Black people, are unable to give direction to the Black people’s spontaneous responses to such blatant acts of national oppression, it does not build confidence among the Black masses that a Black Liberation Movement can help to bring about the liberation of Black people. This also weakens the confidence of the national and intentional anti-imperialist forces in the Black Liberation Movement.

The forging of a unity of the Black left, must therefore be a conscious, continuing and serious effort of the Black Liberation Movement, if it is to become more than the sum total of the spontaneous local struggles, and the loose national networks that form to try and influence election campaigns and win basic reforms.

The Black Left Unity Network (BLUN), while far from the scope and depth of the unity that is needed, represents a conscious and active commitment and mechanism toward forging this unity. Through BLUN working groups like the Cuba Working Group, we seek to unite Black left forces in practical mass work and educational activities, as we try to figure out ways of widening an deepening a unity process.