Eurasia Press & News
Representatives of the Tuareg rebels and the government of Mali dissolved their negotiations in Algiers without reaching a settlement. Meanwhile, the violence continues.
For an entire week, representatives of the Malian government and Tuareg rebels sat and talked. It was the third round of negotiations within four months. However, after a few days, the Malian government and the rebels were not been able to reach an agreement.
“The subject of a federal state is not on our schedule,” said Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, who took part in the negotiations in Algeria’s capital, Algiers. He also accused the rebels of radicalization saying that they called for a high degree of autonomy for northern Mali.
“It is important that the negotiations return to what we have offered,” Diop added. “We are willing to make governmental reforms so that the self-administration of local communities will be strengthened. But it must be done within the framework of a unitary state.”
On Thursday (27.11.2014) news came that the negotiations had ended. “We can not agree,” said Moussa Ag Assarid, spokesman for the Tuareg movement. “The positions are very far apart.” The Malian Minister for reconciliation, Ould Sidy Zahabi, was not surprised and said, “I predicted that this round (of negotiations) would end this way.”
