Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (L) embrasses Mahamadou Djery Maiga (R), the vice-president and spokesman of the Transitional Council of the State of Azawad, following the signing of the ammended version of the Algerian Accord on June 20, 2015 in Bamako. Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance signed the landmark deal to end years of unrest in a nation riven by ethnic divisions and in the grip of a jihadist insurgency. The document had already been signed in May by the Malian government and loyalist militias but the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), a coalition of rebel groups, had been holding out until amendments were agreed two weeks ago. AFP PHOTO / HABIBOU KOUYATE (Photo by HABIBOU KOUYATE / AFP)

Algiers, Bamako recommit to 2015 Malian peace deal

On Apr 30, 2023

Mali and its neighbour Algeria have said they wished to revive a 2015 peace deal between Bamako and northern Malian rebels that is more fragile than ever and raises fears of renewed violence.

In a joint statement, Mali and Algeria said they wanted to relaunch the deal known as the Algiers Accords.

“We have carried out a very precise, very rigorous examination of what is needed to ensure the effective and productive relaunch, via a political process protected from short-term turbulence,” Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed said after talks with junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita.

His visit comes after former Malian rebels went to Algeria in February for talks on how to end the impasse.

A leading rebel group that signed the 2015 agreement reacted caustically to prospects of getting the accord back on track.

“They have to stop sliding further into denial (and) acknowledge the situation is spiralling out of control,” a spokesman for the Coordination of Azawad Movements, Ag Mohamed Almou, said.

The peace agreement aimed at easing tensions in a region that exploded into violence in 2012 when Tuaregs mounted an insurgency against the central government.

Terrorists infiltrated the revolt and later took their campaign into central Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, killing thousands of people across the region and forcing millions to flee their home.

The 2015 agreement brought together the Tuareg rebels and the state in a deal that offered more local autonomy and the chance to integrate fighters into a state-run “reconstituted” army that would operate in the region.

But the agreement has only been partially implemented, in December, armed groups suspended their participation in deal pending the “organization” of a crisis meeting with the Malian government ”on neutral ground.”

The Terrorists in the Great Sahara has been gaining ground in northern Mali against a disparate constellation of rivals, the militants Support Group for, government troops and local Tuareg-dominated armed groups.

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