Algeria negotiates with armed Islamists who hold Azawad – Le Matin

It highlights  seemingly contradictory statements by US officials concerning Mali. Johnnie Carson Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs affirmed on Monday 1 October that the United States would be willing to support a military "well prepared" intervention led by the ECOWAS African countries in northern Mali to expel the Islamist narco-insurgency linked to al-Qaeda "There should be at some point military action" against  against the extremists linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) settled in the north of Mali, he said Le Matin reports.
 
This contradicts the assertion of  General Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. forces in Africa (Africom) who said on  Sunday in Algiers that "the situation in northern Mali  can only be resolved through diplomacy or politics." Why this double standard of the U.S. military? The commander of AFRICOM seems to declare waht Algiers wants to hear that the US is against military intervention in Mali.
 
Le Matin suggests that the United States seems to be keeping two irons in the fire. Like France and England, the US should support the  UN Security Council principle of international military intervention  which is as wide as possible, but  they want to ensure the conditions in which it might unfold. This does not necessarily help President  Bouteflika who seeking allies to prevent any initiative for intervention.
 
 There are to be no European troops in Malian soil either according to the Malian government and ECOWAS. This does not please the French, Le Matin comments. The French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, and the head of German diplomacy, Guido Westerwelle, said that their countries would provide logistical support for a possible intervention. Paris and Berlin are not however considering the deployment of combat troops. They have been saying  that for months.
 
Contrary to what is implied by the Algerian press, no Western country has so far said it would participate in military action to dislodge the narco-Islamists  in  northern Mali.  Any infantrymen taking part  will belong to ECOWAS countries. Some sources suggest a strong presence of the Chadian army, accustomed to fighting in the Sahel. France has already approached Idriss Deby to convince him to take part in the ECOWAS action  in northern Mali, according to Le Matin.
 
In this case, the African Union seems to have been scuppered by ECOWAS. The AU had no word on who is preparing military intervention on the continent. This means once again the immaturity of the organization, Le Matin observes . However nothing is done yet, no timetable has been established. It all boils down to statements of intent without deployment program or deadline. The Security Council of the UN  isdragging its feet, regardng the ECOWAS program of intervention. Meanwhile, the narco-Islamists strengthen their position, buy weapons and ammunition, and especially with all its  thousands of young recruits in the Sahel region and beyond.
 
 
In the meantime, Algiers  is negotiating as it has four hostages held by the Algerian Mujao, a franchise of AQIM, somewhere in northern Mali. For this reason but for others undoubtedly Algiers will not hear of  talk of military intervention in its neighbour’s territory. "It is urgent to find a solution to prevent military intervention in northern Mali. We must persuade all factions on the ground to break links with AQIM terrorists and Mujao."
 
 A source close to the negotiations said that a new delegation of Ansar Dine  is being received in Algiers trying to quickly find a political solution to the crisis in the Sahel, Le Matin reports. The negotiations with the  Tuareg Islamist movement who began with the kidnapping of Algerian diplomats in Gao in April, aims "to unite the different strands of Ansar Dine" the most radical faction which does not recognize AQIM as a terrorist group.
 
Ansar Dine wants to make Mali an Islamic emirate but isnot bound to al-Qaida, as it is currently composed mainly of former MNLA who favor autonomy for Azawad, according to Le Matin. "That's why this delegation was led by Tena Ould Ahmed (the spiritual father of  Iyad ag Ghali, leader of Ansar Dine), holding the hardliners and also the more moderate Amada ag Bibi," said a person related to the  movement. President Bouteflika received a delegation Ansar Dine in Algiers in person last summer.
 
 These talks are not to the liking of Bamako, where the Prime Minister, Cheick Modibo Diarra, on Saturday called on the West to send planes and special forces north of the country. "We do not recognize this type of informal meeting, he said. Mali is relying exclusively on a UN resolution to send 3,300 men of ECOWAS which are now ready. Algeria seeks to protect its men, even if it involves the sacrifice of  the Malian population, Le Matin says. It should not feel compelled to get involved in a military operation,  as Mali asks nothing. " This is a stone in the garden of neighboring Algeria.”
 
In this new Malian equation, the MNLA seems to have been removed, outclassed by narco-Islamists. Yet it was behind the attack that allowed Ansar Dine and Mujao a foothold in Azawad. Hidden somewhere in the Sahara,  the press no longer hears from the movement. Voices say  it is in restructuring. But no country or organization believes that they have any  power to contribute to hunt AQIM or Mujao, the narco-Islamists  of Azawad, LeMatin affirms.
 
One question remains in suspension : what happens to the famous Committee of Chiefs of Staff of the Sahel (CRIC), based in Tamanrasset? This organization consists of the military Chiefs of Staff of the Sahel countries and Algeria whose mission is still to ensure security in the region and track terrorist organizations. Despite numerous meetings in Algiers, Nouakchott and Niamey it has not taken any initiative on the ground to help the Malian authorities to combat  the terrorist narco-Islamist groups, Le Matin concludes.