Tuareg MNLA say they have restored secular control in Kidal

The representative of the MNLA Europe, Moussa ag Assarid says his movement has taken over the city and region of Kidal in northeastern Mali. "We control the town of Kidal, as well as neighboring cities like Tessalit In and Khalil," he  said on Monday to a journalist from Le Figaro. "Our movement is now part of the fight against terrorists," he added referring to the Islamist AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), Mujao (Movement for the uniqueness and jihad in West Africa) and Ansar Dine ("Partisans of religion") .
 
MNLA fighters have regained the ground without resistance, according to Moussa ag Assarid. "The people are with us," he said. According to other sources, AQIM leaders and Ansar Dine, who reportedly fled Kidal after the fall of Gao and the Franco-Malian  offensive on Timbuktu, adding that they are hiding in the nearby mountains now.
 
Ansar Dine dissidents who left their group a few days ago, could also have turned against them. Thus, according to their spokesperson, these dissidents have taken the city with the MNLA. "We're working together for the safety of the town of Kidal," Mohamed ag Aharib, former spokesman of Ansar Dine  , and the Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA)told AFP. "Currently in Kidal, there are fighters of MIA  and MNLA, who had joined the ranks of Ansar Dine and MNLA  again," he said.
 
If the recovery of Kidal by the MNLA is true, this new situation will further complicate the conflict for France , Le Figaro reports. The Tuareg MNLA  originally  conquered a part of Mali in 2012 and declared  the independence of Azawad, but they were quickly supplanted by  the Arab jihadists, both foreign and Tuareg. The MNLA recently announced its return to the war, with the will to fight against the Islamists.

However Malian public opinion and the Malian  army supported by France, is deeply distrustful of the MNLA whom they see as opportunists and they hold as responsible for the alledged massacre of over 100 Malian soldiers at Aguelhok in 2011. Whilst the MNLA leader is said to be negotiating with the French government in Paris over independence and self determination the Malian government in Bamako is unlikely to be  so accomodating. The decision by Ansar Dine to break off negotiations and begin the assault on Konna as part of its drive southwards to Bamako has undermined the negotiating position of  Tuareg's in the North.