Reuters: World News: Separatist Mali rebels say military operations over

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Separatist Mali rebels say military operations over Apr 5th 2012, 12:26 Mali's junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo speaks during a news conference at his headquarters in Kati April 3, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Luc Gnago By Bate Felix BAMAKO | Thu Apr 5, 2012 8:26am EDT BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali's MNLA separatist rebels announced they had ended their fight to create an "Azawad" state on the edge of the Sahara on Thursday after achieving their goal amid a political crisis that has paralyzed southern capital. The ceasefire was announced ahead of a meeting of army chiefs from West Africa's ECOWAS bloc in Ivory Coast, where they will try and hammer out a plan for military intervention in Mali, which experts fear has become a security vacuum for al Qaeda cells and smugglers to exploit. West African governments are concerned about the lawless north but have also imposed sanctions on the junta that seized power in Bamako, and not yet ruled out a military intervention to restore a civilian government. Taking advantage of chaos following a March 22 coup, rebels, battling alongside Islamist militants who want to impose sharia, or Islamic law, swept through Mali's north last week, pushing government forces from Kidal, Gao and Timbuktu, the three northern regions that the MNLA says will form the new state. "(The MNLA) decides unilaterally to declare the end of military operations from Thursday, 5 April and midnight GMT," the group said on its website, www.mnlamov.net. Malian government forces are in disarray after the coup sparked a collapse as rebels advanced. Junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo has so far shrugged off trade, diplomatic and financial sanctions imposed by Mali's neighbors and Western powers wanting a return to civilian rule. But a conference he had called for Thursday to end the political crisis was put on ice after political parties rejected the idea, adding to the political uncertainty. Former colonial power France on Thursday reiterated its position that there was no military solution to the Tuareg-led rebellion and said there was a clear distinction between the MNLA and Ansar Dine Islamists, who had been "infiltrated" by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM. [ID:nL6E8F56YU] REBELS WITH OPPOSING OBJECTIVES The MNLA statement indicates that separatist forces do not plan to push any further south from current positions still hundreds of kilometers away from the capital in the south. Ansar Dine, the Islamist force that the MNLA has operated with, has said it wants to impose sharia across all of Mali and so far not put any limits on how far it will advance. The MNLA has an uneasy relationship with Ansar Dine, which is potentially stronger militarily, and analysts say the two groups could soon clash due to conflicting aims. The rebellion has tapped into deep-rooted frustrations over the lack of development in the north and was boosted by arms and men returning from Libya's conflict and Paris and other nations have called for talks over the issue. However, there is growing unease over how Islamists, both from Ansar Dine and al Qaeda itself, have extended their reach as an already weak government presence in the north evaporated. "(Ansar Dine) have another objective which is to establish an Islamist regime in Mali and the Sahel as a whole," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said. "I don't see how we could have dialogue with AQIM whose objective is to kill our citizens," he added. Six French citizens are currently being held by AQIM in the Sahara. The United Nations Security Council said it was "alarmed" by the presence of al Qaeda's local wing, AQIM, in the region. Paris has urged Algeria, the region's biggest military power, and other neighbors to do more to tackle the threat. France and the United Kingdom have advised citizens in the country to leave. The MNLA statement asked the international community to protect "Azawad", but African nations and world bodies have unanimously rejected the idea of Mali's north seceding. Mali's rebellion has displaced over 200,000 people, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis in the region, where millions are in need of food relief after yet another year of poor rain meant crops failed. The U.S. on Wednesday announced the suspension of an additional $13 million in aid to cash-strapped Mali, whose donors have mostly slashed funding over the military takeover. (Additional reporting by John Irish and Catherine Bremer in Paris; Writing by David Lewis) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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