Mali: Government working to secure a deal with Tuareg separatists in 8 weeks

Mali’s government hopes to clinch a preliminary peace deal with northern Tuareg separatists within 8 weeks, the foreign minister said, ahead of talks due to start in Algeria on Monday.

Mali’s northern region – called Azawad by the Tuareg separatists – has risen up four times in the past 50 years, with various groups calling for self-rule.

The last uprising in early 2012 prompted a coup in the capital and allowed al-Qaeda-linked Islamist groups to seize northern Mali.

According to Ambassador Abdoulaye Diop, the first week of the Algiers talks would be devoted to discussions with the various Malian communities, especially those in the northern region. “We hope that with the help of the African Union mediators, after 8 weeks of negotiations, we will have a pre-agreement,” the minister said.

Negotiators hope a deal can draw a line under the decades of hostilities and instability in the desert north of the West African nation. Three separatist groups – the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the Arab Movement of Azawad, (MMA) and the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA), are demanding greater autonomy, however, the government has said any peace deal must respect Mali’s territorial integrity.