[A-List] Mali: US's Latest Counterinsurgency War

[Tony B.]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: Stop NATO
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 11:22 PM
Subject: [stopnato] Mali: US's Latest Counterinsurgency War


http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-17-voa60.cfm

Voice of America News
September 17, 2007

Tuareg Unrest Escalates in Mali
By Selah Hennessy

-[T]he American presence in Mali is serving to
aggravate the situation.
Mali receives military and financial support from the
multi-million-dollar U.S. Trans-Saharan Counter
Terrorism Initiative.
-"The involvement of America may externalise what
could be perceived as an internal conflict, [a] minor
conflict [and result in it] actually escalating and
creating havoc within the region."

Dakar (Senegal) - Military leaders in Mali say the
national army is ready to retaliate after Tuareg
rebels carried out a deadly ambush on Sunday.
....
[S]ome analysts say the conflict is political and say
the government has failed to fulfill promises made in
a peace deal last year. Selah Hennessy reports from
the VOA West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Colonel Abdoulaye Coulibaly, a spokesman for Mali's
national army, says seven Tuareg fighters and one army
soldier were killed in Sunday's ambush....

Malian officials say Tuareg rebels, lead by renegade
leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, ambushed an army convoy on
its way to reinforce a garrison in the northeast town
Tin-Zaouatene.

Bahanga has not claimed responsibility for the ambush.
....
Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies analyst
David Zounmnou says Sunday's ambush was politically
motivated.

He says Tuaregs are taking up arms because the
government has failed to fulfil its promises,
including improved development in northern parts of
the country and the fair management of natural
resources.

"The truce has been broken certainly because the
government has not respected the terms of the
agreement," he said.

He adds that the American presence in Mali is serving
to aggravate the situation.

Mali receives military and financial support from the
multi-million-dollar U.S. Trans-Saharan Counter
Terrorism Initiative.....

"The involvement of America may externalise what could
be perceived as an internal conflict, [a] minor
conflict [and result in it] actually escalating and
creating havoc within the region," Zounmnou said.

He says it is important Mali's government deals with
the situation through political change, rather than
looking to the United States for military support.

"Hiding behind the shade of America to come to terms
with a rebellion in the region will not bring
sustainable results," he added.

Tuareg fighters in Mali and neighboring Algeria and
Niger have been carrying out rebellions since the
1990s, calling for economic aid for the deeply poor
Sahel region.

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