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MALI: Peacekeepers Killed

MALI: Peacekeepers Killed 21008 – Africa Research Bulletin National Security US Blacklist: The US on May 19th ambush in the Kidal region in which Mauritania added the ISIS group’s branches in five United Nations (UN) peacekeepers Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia to its from Chad were killed and three were Anti-slavery Activists Freed global terrorism blacklist and placed six wounded. men on its sanctions list. The peacekeepers were attacked on the Two anti-slavery activists, one of them a former presidential candidate, walked out The three branches were declared “spe- 18th as they were escorting a convoy in of jail on May 17th after the country’s cially designated global terrorists,” a Aguelhok in Kidal (northeast). They hit supreme court downgraded the crimes category that imposes sanctions and a landmine and then came under sus- they were convicted of in 2015 and penalties on foreign persons who pose tained gunfire. Five Chadian peacekeep- ordered their release. a serious risk of committing acts of ers were killed and three others “We left prison with head high, without terrorism that threaten US nationals or wounded, according to a UN mission ever giving into attempts at compromise national security, the State Department in Mali (Minusma) statement. or submission to power,” Biram Ould Dah said. Ould Abeid told reporters after being The attack was the worst since a Febru- freed along with Brahim Ould Bilal. He The ISIS group in Libya also was named ary assault on the Minusma camp in said during their incarceration the pair as a “foreign terrorist organisation.” Kidal by Ansar Dine in which seven had received “propositions” from those in Guineans were killed. power “in exchange for our freedom that The designations freeze any US assets we rejected,” adding that he would reveal the groups may have and make it illegal The Mali mission is the most danger- details at a later time. for any American national to knowingly ous active deployment for UN peace- provide those groups or conspire to keepers and it has been hit by sharp Ould Abeid, runner-up in the 2014 pres- provide them with material support or internal tensions since its launch in idential elections and leader of the Abo- litionist Movement in Mauritania, had resources. July 2013. The UN said on May 18th been sentenced to two years in jail for a that 12 peacekeepers had been killed Separately, the Treasury Department public order offence and belonging to a since the start of 2016 in dozens of announced sanctions against six men it non-authorised organisation following an attacks against the force in the Kidal anti-slavery protest. The supreme court accused of providing financial support to region. In total, 59 peacekeepers have downgraded those offences to failing to terrorist groups. It also sanctioned a been killed while on active service, disperse when ordered to do so by officers man in Libya who it said provided while another four have died in of the law, a charge which carries a substantial support for the ISIS group’s friendly fire incidents. The UN would maximum one-year jail sentence, meaning affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. they have already served their time. continue to support the implementation He was accused of moving hundreds of of the peace agreement in Mali, it said Despite being officially abolished in 1981, thousands of dollars, as well as weapons in the statement. (Reuters 19/5; © AFP slavery is still deeply entrenched inMauri- and ammunition, from Libya to the 19/5 2016) tania. Slave status is also often passed on Sinai. (© AFP 19/5; from generation to generation, according The UN said three suspects had been to rights groups. Benghazi Fighting: Five people were arrested in connection with the attack on killed and 11 wounded on May 6th Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s its peacekeepers, Radio France Interna- when shells hit a political rally in West and Central Africa director, tionale reported (20/5). described the court’s decision as “an support of Haftar’s LNA in the centre enormous relief and welcome news” in a of Benghazi, a medical source said. The Paris-based radio also reported on statement. the 19th that the jihadist Macina Liber- “The shells were fired from the Soug al- Tine said he hoped for momentum behind ation Front had distributed for the first Hout sector” in the north of the city, a other freedom of speech cases, such as that time a video and officially declared its military source said of an area controlled of blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould allegiance to Ansar Dine. The group has by anti-Haftar armed groups. Mkheitir, currently on death row for been active in the Mopti region since blasphemy. For nearly two years, Benghazi has seen 2015, in southern Mali and northern In August 2015, Mauritania adopted a bloody battles between loyalist forces Cote d’Ivoire. In the propaganda video, new law making slavery a “crime against and armed groups including jihadists the terrorist group threatens France and humanity” and doubling the maximum from ISIS and Ansar al-Sharia, which is its allies in the region. prison term to 20 years. The country in close to al-Qaeda. Forces loyal to Haftar December also set up three specialist As Mali celebrated the first anniversary have regained several districts in Beng- slavery courts and decreed in April that of the Algiers Peace and Reconciliation hazi but have yet to retake the whole March 6th would be national day for the Agreement reached between the gov- city. (© AFP 6/5 2016) fight against slavery. ernment and several armed groups, two On May 16th the first sentences were Salim Ghafir, spokesman for the Spe- deadly clashes broke out in the north handed down at one of the new courts cial Forces Al-Sa’iqah 2nd battalion of the country, RFI reported (16/5). against two men in southeastern Mauri- confirmed the discovery of a mass Three people died in Timbuktu during tania. The pair were jailed for five years grave on May 7th in a farm in the fighting amongst armed groups while and fined 1m ouguiyas ($2500) for exploit- Al Faakat area west of Benghazi. The in Gao, an army officer was killed by ing two women. (© AFP 17/5 2016) thirty bodies were given a proper attackers who were classified as terror- burial. “The graves most likely ists. belonged to terrorist groups,” he said. Court Jails Soldiers: A Bamako court on (WAL 7/5) April clashes p. 20971 May 4th sentenced two soldiers, Lieu- MOZAMBIQUE tenant Mohamed Ouattara and Chief- Mass Grave Found Sergeant Amara Sylla, to five years in MALI prison with hard labour for plotting a The opposition demands an independent Peacekeepers Killed coup against President Ibrahim Boubacar investigation into a spate of unex- Keita in 2014. Another soldier accused Deadly clashes break out in the north. plained killings. of involvement in the same plot was Malian Islamist group Ansar Dine on acquitted. (RFI 6/5) State of emergency Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main May 19th claimed responsibility for an p. 20972 opposition party Renamo, said on May AB C © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2016.07062.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

21008 – Africa Research Bulletin National Security US Blacklist: The US on May 19th ambush in the Kidal region in which Mauritania added the ISIS group’s branches in five United Nations (UN) peacekeepers Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia to its from Chad were killed and three were Anti-slavery Activists Freed global terrorism blacklist and placed six wounded. men on its sanctions list. The peacekeepers were attacked on the Two anti-slavery activists, one of them a former presidential candidate, walked out The three branches were declared “spe- 18th as they were escorting a convoy in of jail on May 17th after the country’s cially designated global terrorists,” a Aguelhok in Kidal (northeast). They hit supreme court downgraded the crimes category that imposes sanctions and a landmine and then came under sus- they were convicted of in 2015 and penalties on foreign persons who pose tained gunfire. Five Chadian peacekeep- ordered their release. a serious risk of committing acts of ers were killed and three others “We left prison with head high, without terrorism that threaten US nationals or wounded, according to a UN mission ever giving into attempts at compromise national security, the State Department in Mali (Minusma) statement. or submission to power,” Biram Ould Dah said. Ould Abeid told reporters after being The attack was the worst since a Febru- freed along with Brahim Ould Bilal. He The ISIS group in Libya also was named ary assault on the Minusma camp in said during their incarceration the pair as a “foreign terrorist organisation.” Kidal by Ansar Dine in which seven had received “propositions” from those in Guineans were killed. power “in exchange for our freedom that The designations freeze any US assets we rejected,” adding that he would reveal the groups may have and make it illegal The Mali mission is the most danger- details at a later time. for any American national to knowingly ous active deployment for UN peace- provide those groups or conspire to keepers and it has been hit by sharp Ould Abeid, runner-up in the 2014 pres- provide them with material support or internal tensions since its launch in idential elections and leader of the Abo- litionist Movement in Mauritania, had resources. July 2013. The UN said on May 18th been sentenced to two years in jail for a that 12 peacekeepers had been killed Separately, the Treasury Department public order offence and belonging to a since the start of 2016 in dozens of announced sanctions against six men it non-authorised organisation following an attacks against the force in the Kidal anti-slavery protest. The supreme court accused of providing financial support to region. In total, 59 peacekeepers have downgraded those offences to failing to terrorist groups. It also sanctioned a been killed while on active service, disperse when ordered to do so by officers man in Libya who it said provided while another four have died in of the law, a charge which carries a substantial support for the ISIS group’s friendly fire incidents. The UN would maximum one-year jail sentence, meaning affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. they have already served their time. continue to support the implementation He was accused of moving hundreds of of the peace agreement in Mali, it said Despite being officially abolished in 1981, thousands of dollars, as well as weapons in the statement. (Reuters 19/5; © AFP slavery is still deeply entrenched inMauri- and ammunition, from Libya to the 19/5 2016) tania. Slave status is also often passed on Sinai. (© AFP 19/5; from generation to generation, according The UN said three suspects had been to rights groups. Benghazi Fighting: Five people were arrested in connection with the attack on killed and 11 wounded on May 6th Alioune Tine, Amnesty International’s its peacekeepers, Radio France Interna- when shells hit a political rally in West and Central Africa director, tionale reported (20/5). described the court’s decision as “an support of Haftar’s LNA in the centre enormous relief and welcome news” in a of Benghazi, a medical source said. The Paris-based radio also reported on statement. the 19th that the jihadist Macina Liber- “The shells were fired from the Soug al- Tine said he hoped for momentum behind ation Front had distributed for the first Hout sector” in the north of the city, a other freedom of speech cases, such as that time a video and officially declared its military source said of an area controlled of blogger Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould allegiance to Ansar Dine. The group has by anti-Haftar armed groups. Mkheitir, currently on death row for been active in the Mopti region since blasphemy. For nearly two years, Benghazi has seen 2015, in southern Mali and northern In August 2015, Mauritania adopted a bloody battles between loyalist forces Cote d’Ivoire. In the propaganda video, new law making slavery a “crime against and armed groups including jihadists the terrorist group threatens France and humanity” and doubling the maximum from ISIS and Ansar al-Sharia, which is its allies in the region. prison term to 20 years. The country in close to al-Qaeda. Forces loyal to Haftar December also set up three specialist As Mali celebrated the first anniversary have regained several districts in Beng- slavery courts and decreed in April that of the Algiers Peace and Reconciliation hazi but have yet to retake the whole March 6th would be national day for the Agreement reached between the gov- city. (© AFP 6/5 2016) fight against slavery. ernment and several armed groups, two On May 16th the first sentences were Salim Ghafir, spokesman for the Spe- deadly clashes broke out in the north handed down at one of the new courts cial Forces Al-Sa’iqah 2nd battalion of the country, RFI reported (16/5). against two men in southeastern Mauri- confirmed the discovery of a mass Three people died in Timbuktu during tania. The pair were jailed for five years grave on May 7th in a farm in the fighting amongst armed groups while and fined 1m ouguiyas ($2500) for exploit- Al Faakat area west of Benghazi. The in Gao, an army officer was killed by ing two women. (© AFP 17/5 2016) thirty bodies were given a proper attackers who were classified as terror- burial. “The graves most likely ists. belonged to terrorist groups,” he said. Court Jails Soldiers: A Bamako court on (WAL 7/5) April clashes p. 20971 May 4th sentenced two soldiers, Lieu- MOZAMBIQUE tenant Mohamed Ouattara and Chief- Mass Grave Found Sergeant Amara Sylla, to five years in MALI prison with hard labour for plotting a The opposition demands an independent Peacekeepers Killed coup against President Ibrahim Boubacar investigation into a spate of unex- Keita in 2014. Another soldier accused Deadly clashes break out in the north. plained killings. of involvement in the same plot was Malian Islamist group Ansar Dine on acquitted. (RFI 6/5) State of emergency Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main May 19th claimed responsibility for an p. 20972 opposition party Renamo, said on May AB C © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural SeriesWiley

Published: Jun 1, 2016

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