AFRICA/MALI - Clashes between rebels in Gao, a testimony to Fides

Bamako (Agenzia Fides) - The killing of a councilor in Gao, a city in the north of Mali occupied by rebel forces, has caused serious accidents involving also the two main armed factions that control the territory.
As reported to Fides by Fr Edmond Dembele, secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Mali, on the night of June 25, unknown persons killed the councilor, as he was returning home. The victim was also a director of a school and a member of the political party of the President of transition. On 26 June, the population of Gao took to the streets to protest against the men of the MNLA (National Liberation Movement of Azawad), holding them responsible for the crime. "Trustworthy sources of Fides - reports Fr. Dembele - say that the councilor was killed because he refused his support to the MNLA". The latter is trying to gain the support of well-known locals both in the central State and of other groups that contend the north. In the incidents which broke out following the demonstration there were several injuries and, according to some sources, at least two protesters were killed.
"Among the protesters were members of the rebel Salafist movement, MUJAO, which supports the population against MNLA" says Fr. Dembele. MUJAO is the Oneness Movement and Jihad in West Africa, is a dissident group released by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI). According to media reports, MUJAO managed to occupy the headquarters of the MNLA in Gao and injure its leader, Bilal Acherif Ag.
The MNLA is considered a secular movement whose goal is the independence of Mali. MUJAO and Ansar al Dine are instead Islamist movements, who claim to want to extend the sharia to the whole Country.
The occupation of northern Mali by these armed groups is poorly perceived by the population of the entire Country. "In Bamako - says Fr. Dembele – on the same day of 26 June there was a protest against the violence against the people of the north by the rebels and the against the occupation of the region. The demonstrators criticized the inaction of the Government of Mali and asked for urgent response of the State to free the occupied regions." (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/6/2012)