Question for written answer E-005306/2012 to the Commission (Vice-President / High Representative) Rule 117 Fiorello Provera (EFD)

Subject: VP/HR - Malian Islamists in Timbuktu

On 23 May 2012, the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center reported that, according to Malian media reports, terrorists linked to the Islamic group Ansar Eddine and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had destroyed various religious sites in the town of Timbuktu, including a monument registered as a UNESCO heritage site. The two Islamist groups took control of the town in March and have declared Sharia law. They have banned citizens from listening to music and drinking alcohol, and unmarried men and women can no longer mix. Women are now obliged to wear face veils. Food supplies from the capital, , have been disrupted, and the BBC has reported that residents of Timbuktu feel like ‘prisoners in their houses’.

The Tuareg and Islamist separatists who have entered northern also include Algerian nationals. There are fears that Mali could become a new stronghold for al-Qaeda. Ansar Eddine is led by an aristocratic Tuareg called Iyad Ag Ghaly. In the 1990s he led rebellions against governments in both Mali and Niger. One military affairs expert has suggested that Ghaly became involved with radical Salafis while spending time in . Ansar Eddine is estimated to have between 100 to 200 fighters, many of whom are under the age of 18. Ansar Eddine is opposed to the secular National Movement for the Liberation of (MNLA), which is fighting for independence in the north of Mali. Ansar Eddine, unlike the MNLA, is fighting for an Islamic state, and receives protection from , which lies to the north of Mali.

1. What is the position of the Vice-President/High Representative with regard to the tensions between the MNLA and Ansar Eddine, and with regard to the imposition of radical Islamic rule across northern Mali?

2. In the view of the EEAS, how serious is the potential for al-Qaeda to form a strategic base within northern Mali?

3. Is the Vice-President/High Representative prepared to ask the Algerian government of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika about its alleged support for Ansar Eddine?

903172.EN PE 490.179