Mali: The 'gentle' face of al-Qaeda: Al Qaeda has gone to Timbuktu.

[No Elephants]

Mali: The 'gentle' face of al-Qaeda
An exclusive report from inside northern Mali.
May Ying Welsh Last Modified: 30 Dec 2012 12:29

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Timbuktu is the gateway to the Sahara desert. North of here are vast seas of sand believed to be filled with oil and gas. Algeria, France and Qatar are exploring the Mauritanian side of the massive Taoudeni Basin, while Algeria holds exploration concessions on northern Mali's side. The region's indigenous Tuaregs believe this land also contains a mother lode of uranium, gold and more.

But northern Mali is only rich in theory - it is one of the poorest regions on Earth, which the government of Mali has done little to develop.

That is one of the reasons why the secular Tuareg rebel movement - the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) - rose up in January 2012 and swept the northern two-thirds of Mali, declaring an independent state called Azawad.

But the MNLA rebels were soon sidelined by al-Qaeda and its local offshoots, which pushed them from the cities and took over the region, imposing Sharia. The MNLA declined to fight al-Qaeda and beat a tactical retreat. They say their primary enemy is Mali, and until the world recognises them, they cannot lose blood and treasure opening a second front.

"We should fight al-Qaeda in exchange for what?" asks Bilal Ag Cherif, the head of the MNLA and president-in-waiting of the Tuaregs' hoped-for Azawad state.

"Will they recognise Azawad?" asks Bilal. "Provide clear political, economic, security and military assistance to the Azawadis? Those are the requirements of war. So give us those things, recognise us as a state, and then we can talk about fighting terrorism."

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/2012review/2012/12/20121228102157169557.html

Apparently, Al Qaeda is building its own country within Mali, with elaborate underground tunnels.

I hope this is not drum-beating for bombing Mali. I am so sick of the never-ending wars of the neocons of both major political parties.

[formercia]

1. Whack-a-Mole comes to Mali.

Digging Tunnels keeps them out of mischief.

[Enthusiast]

2. I am suspicious of any regional conflict.

What I suspect is, "international powers that be" might be encouraging some of this unrest. This unrest can then serve to allow international forces to be brought in to assure these highly profitable resources be directed to those that really deserve them. Guess who that is.