Fighting in Gao between MNLA and Mujao

Reuters reports that there were 20 killed. Mujao is said to have taken the headquarters of the MNLA in Gao and ousted them from the city. This followed the murder of  Councillor Oumarou Idrissa a teacher who was also an elected member of the transitional assembly of Dioncounda Traoré and a crowd protested against the killing. They were fired upon, the MNLA denies responsibility.

Mujao has presented itself as an  estranged offshoot of Al Qaeda with  West African connections , it holds European hostages and claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a gendarmarie base in Tammenrasset and the capture of seven Algerian diplomats at the Algerian consulate in Gao. Ansar Dine the islamist group who supports sharia but not independence was said to be negotiating with Mujao for the diplomats release. Mujao has become much more prominent in Northern Mali alongside Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other Al Qaeda affiliates and jihadis they are associated with Ansar Dine. The MNLA seems to be loosing control to the islamists.

Both the MNLA and Ansar Dine are reported by AFP  to have held initial talks with President Blaise Campaoré of Burkina Faso who is the Ecowas mediator.The fact that different Tuareg factions are fighting each other may be an encouraging sign for Ecowas and the African Union. Malian Prime Minister  Cheick Modibo Diarra said last week that negotiations rather than military action are the preferred option .

However the local Malian population in the North are clearly suffering mistreatment and the imposition of Sharia by force has been declared to be unacceptable by Mali's leaders.