Malian rebels and Islamic fighters merge

27/05/2012| IslamWeb

The two groups that seized control of Mali's north have announced that they have agreed to merge and create an independent Islamic state in the northern half of the west African nation.

The merger, announced on Saturday, would see the Tuareg separatist-led National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), and Ansar Dine fighters join forces to nominally control an area the size of France.

"I have just signed an accord that will see an independent and Islamic state where we have Islamic law", Alghabass Ag Intalla, a leader of the Ansar Dine, said on Saturday.

The Saturday evening agreement was signed in the northern town of Gao, with celebratory gunfire in both Gao and Timbuktu, another town under their control, marking the development.

The two groups have been in disagreement since March, when they took over the north of Mali and forced Malian government troops to flee south.

Turf wars

Ansar Dine wants to impose sharia, or Islamic law, in the area they occupy, a move the secular NMLA had been hesitant of.

Ansar Dine had also previously said they were opposed to the NMLA objective of creating an independent homeland for Mali's Tuaregs, a goal they now say they are backing.

During the late March advance, residents said there were visible turf wars with the fighters occupying different areas of the cities under their control, as the groups' two separate flags competed for domination of various landmarks.

In Timbuktu, the last major town in the north to fall to fighters from the two groups, the NMLA took over the local airport, located on the outskirts of town, while Ansar Dine installed itself in the military camp at the center of the city.

The agreement suggests both sides have made a major concession in talks that have been going on intermittently for weeks.

The agreement will likely increase the chance of the groups reaching their goal and will enable them to combine their fighters.

The north of Mali fell after a coup d'etat in the capital Bamako on March 21 left government forces disorganized and lacking motivation to fight.

The transitional government of Mali says it wants to take back captured territory but has so far been too distracted by issues of restoring political stability in Bamako to focus its attention of the issue of the north.

PHOTO CAPTION

A fighter is pictured near Timbuktu, in April.

Al-Jazeera