[Maghrebia] Some 1100 armed Touareg rebels from Niger and Mali surrendered their weapons at a ceremony in the southern Libya city of Sebha , international press reported on Wednesday (October 7th). Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi presided over the Tuesday event, which was also attended by Touareg leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, Algerian daily Echorouk reported. Ag Bahanga, said to be the most "radical" of the rebel chiefs, reportedly travelled to Algeria from Libya last month to rejoin ongoing peace talks with the Malian government.
"In this historic day, the Touareg rebels in Mali and Niger have decided to bury the hatchet of war and conclude a peace agreement, which might be described as a 'peace of the brave', in the truest sense of the term, since they have taken this decision of their own free will. They chose the peace camp," Kadhafi said in his speech.
He did not mention Algeria's long history of Touareg mediation efforts, such as the Algiers Accord, El Khabar noted.
Meanwhile, Touareg rebel group Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) characterised the Libyan event as a "masquerade organized by Kadhafi", and asked Algeria to intervene to end the crisis of Touaregs in Niger.
"We call on Algeria...to get involved in a situation that only delays a general explosion difficult to control if nothing is done", the MNJ warned in a statement posted on its website after the ceremony. |