Mali: Bamako and MNLA prepare to negotiate.

Many Malians stress that rebellion should not be allowed to pay. The whole catastrophic series of events that befall Mali began with the conflict initiated by the MNLA who were then joined by Ansar Dine,Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies. It was the MNLA who declared the independence of Azawad. massacres have occurred on both sides but the action which initiated the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Malian refugees from the north began with this insurrection.

Now the Bamako government is preparing to negotiate with the MNLA and Prime Minister Diango Cissoko is preparing to travel to Kidal according to the magazine Jeune Afrique. Operation Serval has opened up an opportunity for the Malian government to take time to organise elections. It is a giagntic task given the chaos of returning refugees and continuing terrorism in the north. Presidential and parliamentary elections have to be organised for the whole country as French forces reduce their numbers and a new force under UN auspices has yet to be formalised.Training is beginning for the Malian army by EU military trainers but this will take time.

The Malian people will need to have a proper dialogue over the nature of the new government and political system which should be put in place given the failure of the system under former president Amadou Toumani Touré. They will also have to confront the continued influence of Captain Amadou Sanogo the former coup leader over events in Bamako and whether he should take on a political rather than a military role. The restoration of democracy inmali is itself fraught with questions. There is no doubt however that Mali will have the strong support of the European Union and France in developing new political institutions. The nation has to be rebuilt even whilst the terrorist guerilla conflict is continuing in the North. 

The position of the Tuareg in the north and a more equitable distribution of wealth and development will need to be on the agenda as Tuareg revbellions have always resulted from agreements which were not adhered to by Mali's government. Despite the animosity caused by the killing reconciliation has to take placefor their to be any move forward in rebuilding Mali as a united democratic nation.

The MNLA have so far refused to disarm or to allow the Malian army into Kidal pointing to previus alleged atrocities by the Malian army. Clearly the reconciliation process will be  difficult and arduous but it is not without hope.