Malian Touaregs return from Libya

After the downfall of Kadhafi, many Touaregs who once relied on his largesse are now heading back to Mali.

By Jemal Oumar for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 05/09/11

With increasing swaths of Libya coming under control of rebel forces, many Malian Touaregs accused of supporting Moamer Kadhafi are now returning home.

"Scores of cross-desert vehicles entered Malian soil at a late hour last Thursday (August 25th) carrying tens of Malian young people," Timbuktu resident Brahim al-Ansari told Magharebia.

"However, we don't know whether they are fleeing the Libyan war after the fall of Tripoli at the hands of revolutionaries or they are gunmen who hail from the area and who want to return and settle there," al-Ansari added.

Residents of some villages in north-eastern Mali, on the border with Niger, said they saw a group of about 10 vehicles crossing the border. Outhman Ould Aweysoun, a trader in Bokossa village in the Kidal region of Mali, said he saw "a convoy of vehicles under the command of a Touareg military officer holding the rank of lieutenant colonel in the pro-Kadhafi Libyan army".

"Those vehicles passed by without talking to the local residents and without getting water supplies or anything else. Those vehicles were without number plates," Ould Aweysoun said.

Analysts have expressed concern that the convoys could be involved in arms trafficking. However, experts downplayed the likelihood that the returnees could spark a new Touareg rebellion because of the sudden death of Touareg rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga.

"The talk about a possible start of the rebellion is excluded for the time being because Touaregs will now be busy looking for a new leader capable of unifying their ranks and having the same kind of charisma that Bahanga had," security expert Iselkou Ould Rajel said.

"The other option that can be thought of is that those Malian military personnel are returning with these weapons to sell them to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and integrate into Malian locals for two reasons," he added.

Ould Rajel said the Touaregs could either sell the weapons to earn a profit or dispose of them to "avoid a reaction from the Malian army that is prepared to attack them with the first sign of any military action that may hinder the major development project that the Malian government started to execute in early August."

Some Malian security experts speculated that these armed vehicles could indicate a desire on the part of the fugitive Kadhafi to open a new front against NATO out of northern Mali where he has strong ties with the local Touareg and Arab population.

"The friendly relations that Col. Kadhafi has always had with the residents of that area, where he invested in several projects and built a number of infrastructure, made the local Touaregs and Arab population owe allegiance to Kadhafi more than they do to the Malian state which they belong to," political analyst Betar Ould Naji said.

"It was Kadhafi who supported Touareg rebels against the Malian state, providing them with weapons, and opening the Libyan borders for them at the expense of Libyan citizens," he added. "It was also him who convinced them to disarm and sign the agreement with the Malian government. Therefore, he considers himself to be their king."

Meanwhile, some northern Mali residents expressed their willingness to protect Kadhafi in the event he fled Libya.

"I'm ready to provide shelter for Kadhafi rather than abandon him because we're not mean," one Gao resident told Jeune Afrique. The magazine also quoted two other Gao residents as saying they were "prepared to protect Kadhafi".

Analyst Mohamed Ould Taqi said that Malians sympathize with Kadhafi because "they don't know the size of destruction he has caused to his own people. In addition, the residents of those regions didn't know any investments or assistance before Kadhafi, who wanted with such moves to control the Malian government."

"Things will change now that the Malian government has launched the major development project in northern regions," Ould Taqi said. "As a result, the loyalty of local population to the government will be enhanced, and the young people will be a part of the production process; something that will create difficulties for al-Qaeda to recruit them."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/09/05/feature-02.