For months, Niger has been the scene of armed conflict between a rebellious nomadic people, the Touareg, and government forces. Neighbouring Mali has also been drawn into the conflict. The Organisation of West African States this week expressed its concern about the situation. Our Correspondent Koert Lindijer travelled to Niger to take a look.
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Mohamed Ag Hama holds his hands over his eyes to protect them against the setting sun, sits down on a straw mat, props up a cushion against his back and stretches his legs. His cattle amble over, mindlessly chewing on the remainders of the sorghum harvest. Ag Hama clicks his tongue, calls out and sings to his cows. His son hands him a bowl of foaming, greasy camel's milk. This is the good life on the edge of the Sahara, in the Malian village of Tin Telute, a hundred kilometres from the historic city of Timbuctou.
We're discussing the latest rebellion in the Sahara. What are the root causes behind the violence in northern Niger and northern Mali? Racial conflict, a failure to come to grips with a glorious past, smuggling? Or repression of lighter skinned northerners by black southern governments. Nobody knows for sure. Ag Hama is a Tamasheq, or, to use the name the French colonisers gave to this proud warrior people, a Touareg. "I no longer want to be like a bird, always in flight" he says, when we discuss the many rebellions instigated by his people since the two countries first became independent in 1960. "We now want peace and good relations with our neighbours".
Underdeveloped
| Wealth Nigeriens and Malians are speculating whether the region's mineral wealth could be the real reason behind the rebellion: uranium mines in northern Niger, oil in northern Mali. Forty years of uranium mining has brought the north's inhabitants no development worth mentioning. Smuggling |
However, the north remains underdeveloped. Journalist and Touareg expert Ramata Diaoure concludes that: "In the past fifty years, no political solution to the conflict has worked, despite concessions to the Touareg, but a military solution is equally impossible."
The fighting is most serious in Niger, and has put the country in a state of turmoil. In August, the government of Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja declared a state of emergency for the north of the country and had three prominent journalists arrested for interviewing Touaregs. Niger's censored media provide slanted coverage of the conflict and its citizens are afraid to speak their minds.
Secret talks
In public, President Tandja has rejected any contact with the insurgents, but secret talks are reportedly underway in Libya. Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré has adopted a more flexible position. He has labelled the insurrection "unnecessary" but has asked Algeria to mediate in the conflict.
The rebel groups in Mali and Niger maintain close ties. They are led by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga in the Kidal region near the Algerian border and by Agaly Alambo north of the Niger town of Agadez in the direction of Libya. The groups are well armed; their weapons are often of better quality than those of the government armies.
In the 1960s, the Touareg fought for the creation of Azawad; their own nomad state, but they have since dropped that demand. Spokesperson Seydou Kaocen Maiga for the Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), says from Paris: "We want autonomy, we want to provide for ourselves" He strongly rejects allegations that the MNJ enjoys little support: "Maybe the Touareg do not support us openly, they wouldn't talk to you about their sympathies. All we want is a better life. The Touareg in Agadez are living in dire poverty, while the region is providing great wealth to the government."
Tags: mali, niger, oil, rebellion, sahara, tamasheq, touareg, uranium