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Mali hails Algeria as model for national reconciliation

January 15, 2018 at 1:58 pm

Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation [Moussa Carlos Sylla‎/Facebook]

Mali’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, has hailed Algeria’s readiness to help the country to achieve a national law of understanding.

“It is a necessity for us to have a charter on national understanding, of course, Algeria has announced that it is willing and available to participate in any design and reflection work,” Coulibaly added.

Algeria, a key player in brokering reconciliation in the country affected by terrorism in the Sahel, is reportedly keen to develop a national law of agreement based on its own national reconciliation charter following its bloody civil war in the 1990s.

Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel stressed that the Malian president had cited the case of Algeria in terms of national reconciliation, including the law on civil concord and the whole process that was conducted in Algeria.

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For Messahel, the maintenance of national unity and cohesion and the preservation of the integrity of the territory in Mali “requires an understanding between communities living in the same space”.

The head of Malian diplomacy discussed with Messahel the security issues in the Sahel, and the progress for the implementation of the inter-Malian peace agreement which was signed in 2015, as well as prospects for economic cooperation between the two countries.

Messahel praised the “strong and historical” relations between Algeria and Mali, noting the existence of a “permanent consultation” to strengthen this relationship.

The security situation in Mali and the surrounding Sahel region and the fight against terrorism, crime and illegal migration, was also discussed between the two countries with the need to “coordinate efforts and be vigilant.”

In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of a territory in the north, and in April declared the new state of Azawad. The conflict was further antagonised by fighting between Tuareg and Islamist rebels. When Islamist militants made territorial gains, the French military launched “Opération Serval” in January 2013 and a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north.