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The Malian government should consider a "dialogue" with jihadists leading an insurgency in that West African state, the think tank International Crisis Group (ICG) suggested on Tuesday.
The idea of talking to jihadists may seem ridiculous to some, he admitted, but he said that all avenues should be explored to protect civilians from harm.
In a report, the ICG has not suggested stopping military operations against Katiba Macina, the armed group of radical Islamist preacher Amadou Kufa, at the root of an insurgency four years old. years.
But he recommended "a turnaround, the force used alongside efforts to bring Katiba Macina's leaders to the table," adding that the chances of defeating the movement on the battlefield were "distant".
According to the report, the previous contacts "had revealed a certain pragmatism among the militants of Katiba Macina, suggesting that even if the chances of success are great, the dialogue with the group deserves to be tried."
An independent group that badyzes conflicts and seeks solutions, the GCI acknowledged that the idea of dialogue with jihadists could scandalize "some elites of Bamako" and could be considered as a step towards an agreement and a rule of the Sharia.
Foreign powers, in turn, "might perceive it as legitimizing a terrorist organization with blood on their hands," the report adds.
However, "the war between the state and the jihadists in central Mali has led to an increase in intercommunal violence," said the ICG.
"To avoid further damage to civilians, the government should explore the possibility of discussions with insurgents about the local ceasefire and humanitarian aid."
The Bamako government "should give religious leaders the power to explore the initial talks" with jihadist leaders and seek dialogue among Malians in the center, "including those who are insensitive to the uprising" , says the report.
Fulani vs Dogon
To make such talks more acceptable to Malian authorities and Western allies such as France, which intervened militarily to fight Islamists, jihadist forces should be forced to give up links with transnational movements such as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Delegates at a national conference in 2017 called for opening talks with Amadou Kufa and radical Tuareg leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, but the resolution was rejected by the French and Malian governments.
Amadou Koufa joined in March 2017 the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM), which had just merged to become the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel region with ties to al-Qaeda. Iyad Ag Ghaly is the leader.
Since the emergence of the Kufa movement, recruited mainly in its own Fulani community (Peul), community violence has spread to central Mali, a mosaic of ethnicities.
The Fulani, who are traditionally cattle ranchers, clashed with the Bambara and Dogon sedentary farmer and hunter communities, who in turn created "self-defense militias".
During an explosion of violence on March 23, about 160 Peul villagers were mbadacred at Ogossagou, near the border with Burkina Faso, by suspected Dogon hunters.
The UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) announced on May 16 that it had recorded "at least 488 deaths" since January 2018 during attacks of "traditional hunters against civilians of the population". peule "in the central regions of Mopti and Ségou.
During the same period, armed Fulanis "killed 63" among civilians in the Mopti region, MINUSMA said.
sst / roc / nb / ri / mlr
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