Vol 56 No 1 | MALI IBK on the back foot 9th January 2015 Peace talks with Tuareg rebels and the President’s dented reputation both need their credibility restored Deadlock in the peace talks with Tuareg rebels promises continued instability and paralysed development for northern Mali this year – unless Algerian mediators step up the pressure for...
Vol 55 No 21 | MALI Crisis returns as talks falter 24th October 2014 Negotiations over the future of the north have resumed without much sign of any rapprochement Lethal attacks by jihadists on United Nations' forces and armed clashes among Tuareg factions take place against a background of another round of sluggish peace talks in Algiers....
Vol 55 No 19 | MALI MINUSMA minus one 25th September 2014 Albert Gerard 'Bert' Koenders, the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative in Mali, may soon be en route to the Hague, where he is seen as the favourite...
Vol 55 No 12 | MALI Ripples from Kidal 13th June 2014 As retired air force Colonel Major Ba N'Dao settles in as the new Defence Minister, a parliamentary investigation begins into the rout of the army at Kidal on...
Vol 55 No 11 | MALI IBK ducks the blame for Kidal 28th May 2014 The army’s defeat by the MNLA has dramatically altered the balance of forces, damaged the President’s reputation and angered the UN The Malian army suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Tuareg rebels at the northern town of Kidal on 21 May and the aftershocks are taking a...
Vol 55 No 8 | MALI Keïta's six-month itch 10th April 2014 The resignation of the government – after just six months in office – points to growing pressure on President Keïta Elected in triumph last August, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta faces growing criticism over failures to broker a settlement in the north and boost the national economy. The government's...
Vol 55 No 6 | MALI Sanogo case falters 21st March 2014 Procedural errors in the arrest and prosecution of Malian coup leader General Amadou Haya Sanogo may be enough to see his trial collapse, legal sources in Bamako have...
Vol 55 No 6 | MALI Talking Timbuktu 13th March 2014 Deepening divisions among the armed groups – and the heavy hand of IBK – undermine the chances for talks on peace in the north Swept to power on a nationalist platform in elections last September, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta intends to make peace on his own terms or not at all. That...
Vol 55 No 3 | MALI Peace process slows down 7th February 2014 The Security Council has sent its own delegation to Mali to try to improve relations with Bamako and advance peace talks on the north The United Nations Mission, the Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali, hopes to draw encouragement and a renewed sense of purpose from the...
Vol 55 No 2 | MALI Serval’s birthday evokes mixed emotions 22nd January 2014 Bamako held a parade to mark the first anniversary of the French intervention. Admiration, pride and suspicion were also on display, as a new military pact takes shape French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian was the most notable guest at the ceremony on 20 January to mark the 53rd anniversary of the national armed forces, the...