6.
Case study II: Mali
6.1. Background
Mali has experienced a long history of conflict
between the centre and
its periphery. Tuareg rebellions in northern Mali, which pitted parts of the
population in the north of the country against the central government
in the capital Bamako and the population in the south have shaken this
West African country for decades. There have been numerous attempts
at conflict resolution, including some by the international community.
None of those has led to sustainable peacebuilding. In 2012, another
Tuareg rebellion brought to the fore the rising
influence of the Tuareg
national liberation movement (MNLA:
Mouvement national pour la
libération de l’Azawad
). Benefitting from a power vacuum of the central
government due to a coup d’état, these non-state armed actors took
control of major population centres in northern Mali, including Timbuktu,
Gao and Kidal. This essentially secular Tuareg movement saw its
power rapidly decline due to the advent and rise of Islamic extremist
movements aiming to take control over large
parts of North and West
Africa and create an Islamic state. These were: Ansar Dine (Defenders
of the Faith), a Malian Tuareg movement; the Movement for Oneness
and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA), and; Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb
(AQIM). These movements rapidly established their terrorist rule in
northern Mali until they were dislodged by French and African military
intervention in January 2013, although cells and attacks continue to
date. Peace negotiations between the Tuareg groups (and other groups
from northern Mali)
and the Government of Mali, with mediation by
the international community, are ongoing at the time of this writing
(August 2015).
58
The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding
// British Academy
6.2. Concepts
Three main concepts are used by the relevant actors in Mali to denote
their relationship with religion.
1.
The Malian state and society apparently
embraced the French ideal
of state secularism or laicity (‘laïcité
’
in French), with an evident
separation of religion and the state.
2.
A moderate version of Islam, mixed with cultural traditions,
is prevalent among the Muslim population in Mali.
3.
Extremist and fundamentalist interpretations of Islam are apparent
among Ansar Dine, MOJWA and AQIM. Although local religious
groups do not use fundamentalist and radical interpretations of
Islam, the media often frame this conflict as being connected to
religious
extremism and fundamentalism, even with regard to laic
Tuareg groups.
6.3. Actors
The
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