Mali

Developments

Image: A Gathering of Bloggers – The Why About This, One United World. retrieved from www.thewhyaboutthis.com Burma/Myanmar: The first bill proposed by the incoming government of Myanmar’s new Parliament, led by the National League for Democracy, created a new position in the government for Aung San Suu Kyi, that of state counsellor. This position, one that has been compared to that of a Prime Minister, would skirt the constitutional ban

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Catch up on developments in…

Image: Cultural Responses to Pain. How Is Suffering Expressed Around the World? Burma/Myanmar: The outgoing government of Myanmar lifted a curfew in Rakhine State this week, imposed in June 2012 after clashes that displaced over 140,000, mostly Rohingya.   U Htin Kyaw of the National League for Democracy was sworn in on Wednesday as the new president of Myanmar. In his speech, Mr. Htin Kyaw urged “patience in the pursuit of democracy”,

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Mali: An Imposed Peace?

Mali: An Imposed Peace? International Crisis Group 22 May 2015 (posted on Genocide Watch 27 May 2015)   Image: REUTERS/ Joe Penney   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS  After eight months of negotiations between Malian parties, the government and some armed groups signed an agreement on 15 May 2015 in Bamako. Fighting has resumed, however, in the north and centre of Mali. Crucially, the Azawad Movements Coalition (CMA) has still not

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Mali PM: France, U.N. must step up fight against Islamists in Mali

Mali PM: France, U.N. must step up fight against Islamists in Mali By John Irish, BBC 6 October 2014 Mali's prime minister said on Monday Islamist militants had been given an opportunity to return to the north of the country after France redeployed troops across the region and urged French and U.N. forces to go on the attack to stop their resurgence. Nine U.N. peacekeepers from Niger were killed on Friday when gunmen on motorbikes ambushed their

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Suspected Islamists attack UN camp in northern Mali

Suspected Islamists attack UN camp in northern Mali Yahoo News 29 August 2014 Suspected armed Islamist extremists on Friday fired rockets at a camp of the UN mission in Mali in the north of the country, a Malian security source said. The attackers fired four rockets at the MINUSMA base close to the border with Algeria at about 4:00 am (0400 GMT), the source told AFP, but could not say whether the camp at Aguelhoc had been struck or if there were

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Armed Groups in Mali Prepare for Peace Talks

Armed Groups in Mali Prepare for Peace Talks Agence France Presse 25 August 2014   Ethnic Tuareg and Arab militias from Mali are gathering for talks this week in Burkina Faso ahead of peace negotiations with the government, participants said on Monday. "We want to get together to harmonize our points of view on certain issues before meeting with Bamako (the government)," Mohamaed Ag Assaleh, president of the Coalition of the People for Azawad (CPA),

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Suicide bomber attacks U.N. base in northern Mali, kills two

By Emma Farge Reuters 16 August 2014 (Reuters) - Two U.N. peacekeepers were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack on a patrol base in northern Mali, the U.N. peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) said on Saturday. A vehicle exploded on Saturday morning next to the base in the village of Ber, about 60 km (40 miles) east of the desert city of Timbuktu, the statement said. It did not give the nationalities of the soldiers, although one MINUSMA

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France bombs Islamists in north Mali

France bombs Islamists in north Mali By BBC   August 10, 2014   French forces have bombed Islamist militant positions in northern Mali. Four or five bombs were dropped in the Esssakane region, west of the city of Timbuktu on Sunday morning, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith in Mali reports. The UN has said al-Qaeda militants were active in the area. Last month Timbuktu airport came under rocket attack. France intervened in Mali in January last

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Peace talks aim at restoring calm in Mali’s north

By Associated Press The Washington Post 16 July 2014 ALGIERS, Algeria — International negotiators, Malian officials and Tuareg separatists are holding peace talks aimed at restoring stability in northern Mali. New bursts of violence in recent months are posing a new threat to Mali’s central government, after French-led troops dispersed al-Qaida-linked extremists who had seized control of northern Mali in 2012. The Algerian capital is hosting

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Clashes in northern Mali kill at least 30 ahead of peace talks

By Adam Diarra and Tiemoka Diallo Reuters 13 June 2014 More than 30 people were killed in desert clashes in northern Mali, the army and Tuareg rebels said, just days before the start of internationally-brokered peace talks. Al Qaeda-linked Islamists took advantage of a Tuareg separatist uprising and occupied swathes of northern Mali in 2012 before being driven back last year by French troops. The fighters scattered across the Sahara's mountains and

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