by Stephane Barbier – BAMAKO (AFP)
Mali’s new interim leader threatened to wage total war on Tuareg rebels and Islamists controlling the north of the country as he took the oath of office Thursday, ending a brief period of military rule.
Dioncounda Traore, the former parliament speaker, was sworn into office in the capital of the west African nation at ceremony attended by, among others, junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo who grabbed power in a March 22 coup.
Traore, 70, took charge in a country facing its worst-ever crisis, threatening to unleash “total war” on the Tuareg rebels, Islamists and outlaws who overran Mali’s vast desert north in the power vacuum created by the coup.
“I am aware of being the president of a country at war,” said the mathematician turned politician, who is expected to name a prime minister and organise elections within 40 days.
The rebels must “stop the… pillaging, the rapes, they must leave the cities that they have occupied,” he added.
If they don’t “we will not hesitate to wage a total and relentless war”.
The junta had launched the coup that toppled former president Amadou Toumani Toure on the grounds that the government was not effective in resisting a rebellion by Tuareg rebels that was rekindled in January.
But the rebels took advantage of the disarray in Bamako by capturing an area roughly the size of France, including the legendary town of Timbuktu, sparking warnings of humanitarian disaster in an area already gripped by acute food shortages and drought.
The West Africa regional bloc ECOWAS immediately condemned the coup, hit the junta with heavy sanctions and demanded it quit power, paving the way for Thursday’s restoration of civilian rule.
But the junta is expected to retain some influence, with observers saying coup loyalists could be named to key ministerial posts, notably those linked to security, as the army tries to reverse the massive rebel gains.
ECOWAS foreign and defence are scheduled to meet in Ivory Coast on Thursday to mull the prospects of a military intervention in northern Mali, as fears rise that the rebel-held region could become a haven for radical Islamists.
The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States has raised the prospect of sending a force of up to 3,000 men to try to reclaim the region, but the mission’s logistical details and mandate are far from resolved.
“We prefer peace, but if war is the only solution, we will make it with our army,” said Traore, who speaks French, Russian and English and Spanish as well as the Malian dialects Bambara and Soninke.
The Tuareg — many of them heavily-armed and battle-hardened from last year’s Libya war where they fought as mercenaries for fallen dictator Moamer Kadhafi — took advantage of Mali’s political chaos to step up their long-simmering separatist campaign.
Joined by Islamist extremists linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), they made unprecedented gains in the weeks since the coup, but that loose rebel faction has reportedly splintered.
The main Tuareg rebel group, Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), has declared an independent Tuareg state, but their call has been rejected by the international community and by the MNLA’s former Islamist allies.
Ansar Dine, the main Islamist group that controls several key towns, has imposed sharia in its some areas under its influence and distanced itself from the Tuareg nationalist cause.
The UN Security Council on Monday warned of the growing “terrorist threat” in Mali and condemned the kidnapping of seven Algerian diplomats in one northern city by an Al-Qaeda splinter group.
The European Commission warned that the north could face a “major humanitarian disaster” unless access is given for food and medicine and said the crisis could also “spill over to neighbouring countries”.
Aid groups have also warned of a humanitarian crisis and abuses against civilians in the lawless area, where more than 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting this year.
A video obtained by AFP before, during and after the seizure of the northern hub of Gao shows a city riven by chaos since the March 31 rebel takeover.
The footage shows empty prison cells, fleeing residents and looted Red Cross warehouses.
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