Disputed Desert Afrika-Studiecentrum Series Editorial Board Dr Piet Konings (African Studies Centre, Leiden) Dr Paul Mathieu (FAO-SDAA, Rome) Prof. Deborah Posel (University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) Prof. Nicolas van de Walle (Cornell University, USA) Dr Ruth Watson (Newnham College, Cambridge) VOLUME 19 Disputed Desert Decolonisation, Competing Nationalisms and Tuareg Rebellions in Northern Mali By Baz Lecocq LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010 Cover picture: painting of Tamasheq rebels and their car, painted by a Tamasheq boy during the mid-1990s in one of the refugee camps across the Malian borders. These paintings were sold in France by private NGOs to support the refugees. Epigraphy: Terry Pratchett, Soul Music. Corgi Books, 1995, ISBN 0 552 14029 5, pp. 108–109. This book is printed on acid-free paper. ISSN 1570-9310 ISBN 978 90 04 139831 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 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Fees are subject to change. Up until that time the D"regs, a collection of cheerfully warlike nomadic tribes, had roamed the desert quite freely. Now there was a line, they were sometimes Klatchian D"regs and sometimes Hershebian D"regs, with all the rights due to citizens of both states, particularly the right to pay just as much tax as could be squeezed out of them and be drafted in to fight wars against people they’d never heard of. So as a result of the dotted line Klatch was now incipiently at war with Hersheba and the D"regs, Hersheba was at war with the D"regs and Klatch, and the D"regs were at war with everyone, including one another, and having considerable fun because the D"reg word for ‘stranger’ was the same as for ‘target’. – Terry Pratchett, Soul Music Thisisnoaffairforaboywhosayshestudiedhistoryandpretendstoknow –CheickagAoussa,F- Contents Listofphotos.................................................................. xi Listoftables................................................................... xiii Acknowledgements........................................................... xv Onterminology,spellingandpronunciation................................ xix Listofterminology ........................................................... xxi Abbreviationsandacronyms................................................. xxv Anoverviewofthemovements .............................................. xxvii Sources........................................................................ xxix MapofNorthernMali........................................................xxxiii Introduction .................................................................. 1 KelTamasheqpolitics.................................................... 3 Anethnographyofhistoricalresearch................................... 16 Areader’sguidetothisbook............................................. 22 .CreatingMali............................................................... 27 Competingnationalisms................................................. 29 FromSoudanFrançaistotheMaliRepublic ............................ 31 PartypoliticsinSoudanFrançais........................................ 35 Internationalcomplications.............................................. 47 CreatingMali............................................................. 69 Coercion,resistanceandcontrol......................................... 80 Epilogue................................................................... 85 viii contents .Race,stereotypesandpolitics.............................................. 87 Colonialimages........................................................... 91 Race....................................................................... 93 The bellah question....................................................... 108 TheslavetradetoMecca ................................................. 116 Les guerriers des sables .................................................... 127 Nomadanarchy........................................................... 131 Epilogue................................................................... 133 . Mali’s mission civilisatrice .................................................. 135 RulingtheNorth ......................................................... 138 Thechiefs’question....................................................... 143 Thenomadproblem...................................................... 151 Therevenues:Cattleandtax ............................................. 164 FearandrumoursinKidal:Thebuilduptorebellion ................... 169 Epilogue................................................................... 178 . Alfellaga..................................................................... 181 Acontinuumofresistance ............................................... 184 Alfellaga ................................................................... 187 Raids,skirmishesandambushes......................................... 200 Aqqa,ortherulesofconflict............................................. 203 Repressionandretaliation................................................ 208 Thelastmonths........................................................... 219 Epilogue................................................................... 221 . Revolution: Teshumara and Tanekra (–) ........................ 227 Teshumara ................................................................ 229 Ishumar life............................................................... 246 Alternatives to the Teshumara ............................................ 254 Tanekra ................................................................... 258 Organising the Tanekra,anarrative...................................... 272 The later years of the Tanekra ............................................ 291 Epilogue................................................................... 292 contents ix . Rebellion: Al-Jebha (–) .......................................... 295 The ‘real’ rebellion: June to December ............................. 299 The ‘confused’ rebellion: January to February . ............ 311 Masters of the Land: February to October . ........................ 331 The return of peace: October to March ...................... 353 .Conclusions ................................................................ 365 Decolonisation,thestateandnationalism............................... 366 Stereotypes,nationandrace ............................................. 369 Alastquestion............................................................ 372 Epilogue....................................................................... 375 References..................................................................... 403 Index.......................................................................... 421 List of photos .. Bouyagui ould Abidine, founder of the Nahda al-Wattaniyya al-Mauritaniyya............................................................ 68 .. Bakary Diallo, Governor of the Gao Région, in . .................... 155 .. Captured rebel leaders Zeyd ag Attaher, Ilyas ag Ayyouba and Mohammed Ali ag Attaher Insar’s messenger Mohammed Ali, are paradedinvictorythroughKidal ......................................... 216 .. Mohammed Ali ag Attaher Insar shortly after his extradition from Morocco in . ........................................................ 216 ..CaptainDibySillasDiarra................................................. 218 .. Two young Ishumar have their picture taken, somewhere in Libya in the mid s: Mohamed Lamine ag Mohamed Fall and Iyad ag Ghali 248 .. Negotiations for the National Pact, January . Edgar Pisani in conversationwithAdberrahmaneagGalla............................... 321 List of tables .. Cattle tax in Soudan Français and Mali – in CFA Francs and FrancMalien............................................................... 166 .. Numbers of livestock and budgeted cattle tax revenues per Cercle, Région of Gao, ........................................................ 166 .. Regional per capita tax, Région of Gao, . .......................... 167 .. Average number of heads of livestock per taxable head of population and average amount of cattle tax to be paid sum total in Région of Gao, ........................................................................ 167 .. Number of Malian forces employed in the Adagh during Alfellaga ...... 199 .. Estimated number of civilian victims June —October ........ 306 Acknowledgements This book has been long in the making, arguably since when I first heard of the Kel Tamasheq rebellions in Mali and Niger, but certainly since I started in- terviewing people on this