DAKAR, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Secular Malian Tuareg MNLA rebels said on Monday they were now in control of the northern town of Kidal after their former Islamist allies abandoned it.
"Now it is us who are in control," Colonel Mohamed Ag Najim, the MNLA's military commander, told Reuters by satellite phone from the northeastern town, which was the last stronghold occupied by al Qaeda-allied Islamist fighters after Gao and Timbuktu were taken by French and Malian troops.
Asked where fighters from the Islamist Ansar Dine group which held the town were, Ag Najim replied: "They are gone". Another MNLA rebel contacted by Reuters gave the same account but there was no immediate independent confirmation.
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I expected the MNLA to make their move at some point. I'm quite sure they were none too pleased about being double crossed by the Salafists. Payback time. The MNLA said it is ready to work with French troops and fight terror organizations. However, it said it would refuse to allow Malian soldiers in Kidal and the other towns under its control in northeastern Mali, following allegations that the troops killed civilians suspected of having links to the Islamists. Some reports have said this creates a dilemma for the French. I don't see it that way. The only force capable of going after the Salafists in the mountains of Kidal and northern Mali are the Tuaregs. Unless the French are willing to help, which I don't see happening, the Malian army and the ECOWAS forces cannot beat the Salafists and the secular Tuaregs. It's time for Bamako to choose its enemies.
A few hours ago this report appeared on expatica.com. It seems the French are helping Bamako choose wisely.
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French troops have taken up position at the airport in Kidal, local sources said Wednesday, the third major city in northern Mali after Gao and Timbuktu. "A French plane landed on the runway at Kidal aerodrome," said a senior local official, who also reported seeing helicopters. "They have taken up position around the aerodrome," he added.
His account was confirmed by a regional security source. "We confirm that French aircraft are on the Kidal landing strip and that protection helicopters are in the sky," said the source.
A senior Tuareg figure in Kidal also confirmed the report, as did a spokesman for the Islamic Movement of Azawad, which recently said it had taken control of Kidal. "The French have in fact taken up positions" on the landing strip, said the spokesman. "Our leader is currently talking with them," he added.
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Ah, système D.
"Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive le sacré Légionnaire!"
