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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) That Desert is Our Country: Tuareg Rebellions and Competing Nationalisms in Comtemporary Mali (1946-1996) Lecocq, J.S. Publication date 2002 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Lecocq, J. S. (2002). That Desert is Our Country: Tuareg Rebellions and Competing Nationalisms in Comtemporary Mali (1946-1996). General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:27 Sep 2021 VII I al-Jebha al-Jebha Thee Tamasheq rebellion (1990-1993) ) Introduction n Onn 28 June 1990, a group of armed fighters attacked the army barracks andd the Arrondissement office in Tidaghmene, in the Cercle Menaka. Simultaneously,, another group of fighters ambushed a convoy of four cars belongingg to the American NGO World Vision. These actions were the start off what is now known in Mali as 'the second Tuareg rebellion', or 'the problemss of the North'. They were the result of almost two decades of organisationn and preparation in exile in Libya and Algeria by the tanekra movement. Thee rebellion would last until March 1996, when the conflict was ceremoniouslyy ended with 'the Flame of Peace', the burning of around threee thousand weapons, handed in by the rebel fighters, at a Timbuktu marketplace.. This six year period will be presented and analysed in the followingg two chapters. Onee can discern four different but partly overlapping phases in the conflict,, the first two of which will be dealt with in this chapter. The last twoo will be dealt with in the next chapter. I have labelled the first phase, fromm June 1990 to January 1991, the 'real rebellion'. In this first half year, aa united rebel movement fought the Malian army, inflicting it a series of militaryy defeats. This period will be covered in the first part of this chapter. Inn January 1991, a second phase started, which lasted until 1994. This threee year period can best be characterised by confusion, factionalism and constantt negotiation and I have therefore labelled it the 'confused rebellion'.. Both the Malian state and the Tamasheq movement were faced withh internal conflicts and changes. I will describe and analyse this complexx set of alterations in the second part of this chapter. In the next andd final chapter, the third and fourth phases of the conflict will be describedd and analysed. I have spread the four phases over two chapters forr simple reasons of convenience. Therefore, conclusions on the rebellion willl be drawn at the end of the last chapter only. Onee of the main aims of this thesis is to show the workings of contemporaryy Tamasheq political life and organisation. Therefore, much attentionn will be paid to the internal processes the rebel movement underwentt during the second rebellion. The movement progressed from a strengthenedd unity, which had long been sought, during the first months of thee rebellion, towards factionalism over the course of the second phase of thee conflict, leading to extreme fragmentation on the basis of existing clan andd fraction structures and to increased violence in the third phase, and, finally,, reunification through coercion during the last phase of the conflict. Ass in the previous chapters, we will find a number of key groups in the politicall landscape of the Kel Tamasheq - the ishumar, the intellectuals, 227 7 andd the tribal chiefs. These three groups were not internally homogenous. Onee can differentiate between those who were in favour of rebellion and thosee who were against it; those, within the rebellion, who were 'hardliners'' in favour of independence, and those who were 'moderates' in favourr of autonomy within Mali; and finally, those who were in favour of sociall changes within Tamasheq society and those who were in favour of strengtheningg the existing structure of society. Withinn the movement, the various opinions on its goals were expressed inn various break-ups, violent conflicts and renewed alliances. The reaction off the Malian Government, army and population oscillated between violent outburstss on the one hand, and reasoned discussions on on what the rebellionn was about and who the rebels were on the other hand. Inn the six years the rebellion lasted, all issues which have been central throughoutt this thesis were played out in violent and magnified ways. Withinn the movement, discussions and conflicts centered on the desirability andd realisation of a Tamasheq nation-state, and on the nature of Tamasheqq social structure and the need to change or preserve it. While thesee were the discussions and conflicts of opinion, the events in the field showedd other results - the inescapability of clan thinking, structure and hierarchy,, and the primacy of (fictive) kinship over imagination of a nation onn a territorial basis. Within the context of the Malian nation-state, its governmentt and its inhabitants, the Tamasheq rebellion provoked a revival off the Malian national imagination and the return of stereotyped images of selff and other, of Malian and Kel Tamasheq. In practice, but also in nationall discourse, the rebellion also contributed to a change in the politicall shape of the Malian state from a dictatorship to a multi-party democracy. Thesee political divisions were expressed in the various rebel movements whichh came into existence after the revolt broke out. Many of these movementss also coincided with various clans in Northern Mali. The story toldd here is one of factionalism, alliances and various political currents. In orderr to prevent confusion, I will here shortly present the main movementss and the differences which created them. 228 8 Tablee 6: An overview of the movements Movement t Dataa of creation Political l Tewsitenn involved motivation n Tanekra a 1980'ss and at the Independence e Alll those involved in FPLSAC C startt of the thee tanekra al-Jebha a rebellion:: tanekra, ath-Thawra a al-Jebhaa and ath- MLTT / FPLA / MPLA Thawraa After outbreakk of rebellion: : MPLA,, MLT and FPLA A FPLA A Afterr the outbreak Independence e Junee 1990 - December FrontFront Populaire de off rebellion, July Hardliners s 1990:: all December LiberationLiberation de 1990 0 Modernists s 19900 - January 1991: i'Azawad i'Azawad Timgheda Timgheda alll but the Ifoghas and Moors.. January 1991 - Januaryy 1993: tewsiten fromm the Azawad and Nigerr Bend. January 19933 - March 1996: Chemennamas. MPA A Januaryy 1991, Autonomy y Mostlyy Ifoghas Mouvement Mouvement duringg the Moderates s PopulairePopulaire de negotiationss of the Traditionalists s I'Azawad I'Azawad Tamanrasset t Tefoghessa Tefoghessa agreement t FIAA A Januaryy 1991, Underlining g Moorss of all clans, FrontFront Islamique duringg the Moorish h somee Kel Tamasheq, ArabeArabe de I'Azawad negotiationss of the participation n mostlyy Kel Intessar Tamanrasset t agreement t ARLA A Novemberr 1991, Autonomy y Januaryy 1991 - August Armee Armee afterr the signing of Moderates s 1994:: imghadand RevolutionaireRevolutionaireth eede Tamanrasse t Modernists s Idd nan. August 1994 - LiberationLiberation de agreement t Timgheda Timgheda Marchh 1996: imghad I'Azawad I'Azawad fromm the Adagh, Imekelkalenn and Irreguenaten n 229 9 Tablee 6: An overview of the movements Movamont t Dataa of creation Political l Tawattann Involved motivation n BAUA A Augustt 1994, after the Protectionn of Idnan n BaseBase Autonomemilitar yy conflict between tewsiten n Noo strong presence Un/fféUn/ffé de MPAA and ARLA lAzawad lAzawad FNN LA Januaryy 1993 Protectionn of Ishidenharen,, Dabakar, FrontFront National tewsiten n Daoussahak k dede Liberation de Noo strong presence l'Azawad l'Azawad FULA A Januaryy 1993 Protectionn of Kell Intessar FrontFront Un/ffé de tewsiten tewsiten Noo strong presence LiberationLiberation de lAzawad lAzawad MFUA A Decemberr 1991 Negotiating g All,, and yet none MouvementsMouvements et withh the Malian Intellectuals Intellectuals FrontsFronts Unifies de state e lAzawad lAzawad Regroupp all movements s MPGK K Aprill 1994 Defendingg the Songhayy and other Mouvement Mouvement sedentary y sedentaryy population of Pathotique Pathotique populationn of thee North GandaGanda Koy thee North Kett Tamasheq bellah 230 0 Thee Veal7 rebellion Junee to December 1990 Thee first days Thee start of the rebellion was originally planned for the year 1992 or 1993.. Nevertheless, some men and material had already been moved to Malii in 1989. Three battalions had been created- the Kid a I battalion, the Menakaa battalion and the Gao battalion. However, the Malian army had beenn informed of the tanekra plans. In May 1990, members of the Kidal andd Gao battalions were arrested, and their arms depots confiscated. Only thee Menaka battalion of about 30 men was left unharmed, but it had very feww arms. The commander of the Kidal battalion, Iyad ag Ghali, had managedd to escape and fled to the Menaka battalion, based in the village off Ikadewan. Upon arrival in Ikadewan, Iyad ag Ghali was accused of treasonn by the men of the Menaka battalion and nearly executed. After convincingg the Menaka battalion of his good intentions and diverting executionn by his comrades, Iyad and the Menaka commanders discussed thee situation the movement found itself in.