Algerian Intermediaries Table Draft Peace Deal for Mali
Algerian mediators hosting peace talks between the Mali government and militants have produced a draft agreement transferring a raft of powers from Bamako to the country's restive north.
Ethnic divisions run deep in the west African nation's northern desert, the cradle of a Tuareg separatist movement which has spawned several rebellions since the 1960s.
Algeria and the United Nations are leading mediation talks in Algiers between ministers and six armed rebel groups amid a recent uptick in violence that threatened to jeopardize the peace process.
The 30-page "Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali from the Algiers Process", seen by Agence France-Presse on Friday, calls for "reconstruction of the country's national unity" in a manner that "respects its territorial integrity and takes account of its ethnic and cultural diversity."
The text was greeted with enthusiasm by the government, which called for it to be the basis of quick resolution to the talks, but has so far had a lukewarm reception from the anti-Bamako militants.
The draft deal proposes the creation of powerful elected regional assemblies led by a directly-elected president, as well as "greater representation of the northern populations in national institutions."
From 2018 the government will set up a "mechanism to transfer 30 percent of budget revenues from the state to local authorities... with particular attention to the North", according to the document.
It envisages an internationally-funded Northern Development Zone to raise living standards to the levels enjoyed by the inhabitants of the rest of the country within 10-15 years.
The document refers to "Azawad" -- the local name for a swathe of disputed territory the size of Texas -- as "a socio-cultural reality... shared by different populations of northern Mali."
- 'Balanced document' -
The draft sets out plans for a national conference bringing all sides together within two years of the signing of a "final and comprehensive peace agreement."
That meeting will aim to conduct "a thorough debate between the components of the Malian nation on the root causes of the conflict" in order to achieve a "charter for peace, unity and national reconciliation."
Ministers have been negotiating with the armed groups in a fifth round of talks that started on February 16 to bring a lasting peace to northern Mali, which remains unstable despite French-led military intervention against Islamist rebels launched in 2013.
The militant organizations are dominated by Tuareg and Arabs, however, and no jihadist group has been invited to the dialogue.
"We commend the quality of the draft agreement which, in our view, is a balanced document," Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in a statement to reporters in Algiers.
He said he was pleased there was no suggestion of moving towards federalism or autonomy for the north, noting that the document preserved the territorial integrity and "secular and republican nature" of Mali.
The pro-government militant groups hailed a "balanced document" that they were happy to sign.
"People will be able to take charge of their own affairs, map out their own destiny without constraint," a spokesman told AFP.
But Mohamed Ousmane Mouhamedoun, a spokesman for the rebel side of the armed groups, said they had yet to decide whether to adopt the draft.
"We are listening to the comments of the intermediaries. During the day tomorrow we will send them back the document with some suggestions," he told AFP.
Source: Agence France Presse
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