Mali’s military rulers have announced the cancellation of a 2015 peace deal with the separatist alliance group the Coordination of Azawad movements after months of fresh fighting in the country’s northern regions.
Military authorities said late on Thursday that the so-called Algiers Accord, brokered by the United Nations, had ended with “immediate effect” due to other signatories not keeping their commitments and hostility by chief mediator Algeria.
In a speech broadcast on state television on late Thursday 25 January, the military government spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said an “increasing number of unfriendly acts, instances of hostility and interference in Mali’s internal affairs” by Algeria had been noted.
The Algiers Accord was aimed at easing tensions at a time when deadly violence broke out in 2012 between the central government and the CMA Tuaregs.
The Coordination of Azawad Movements said it was not surprised by the decision. In December, the separatist groups suspended their participation in the peace accord pending the “holding” of a crisis meeting with the Malian government “on neutral ground”.
So far there has not been any reaction from Algeria which has been leading the accord to restore peace between the protagonists.
As a reminder, in late April Mali and neighboring Algeria showed interest in reviving the 2015 peace Accord between the central government and the nort-established separatist groups.
In a joint statement, the two governments announced they wanted to relaunch the deal known as the Algiers Accords amidst fear of fresh violence.
“We have carried out a very precise, very rigorous examination of what is needed to ensure the effective and productive relaunch, via a political process protected from short-term turbulence,” visiting Algerian Foreign minister said after talks on April 26 with junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita.
Algerian Foreign minister’s visit to Bamako came after former Malian separatists went to Algiers in February for talks on how to break the deadlock.
