The government of Mali and Tuareg rebels belonging to the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, or MNLA, have signed a peace deal that provides for an immediate ceasefire and paves the way for countrywide presidential elections next month, it was announced on Tuesday.
The peace accord signed in Ouagadougou, capital of neighboring Burkino Faso, was the result of ten days of intense negotiations. Under the deal, the rebels agreed to give up their fight for independence of the Azawad region in the country's north, and accept Mali's territorial integrity over the region.
The agreement also requires the MNLA rebels to allow government troops to return to the northern town of Kidal, which they captured after a French-led offensive forced militant Islamists out of the town in January. Mali's government had earlier threatened to seize Kidal by force if the rebels failed to agree to a peace deal.
Islamist militants and Mali's Tuareg rebels captured most of the country's northern region in April 2012 amid chaos triggered by a military coup. Nonetheless, their alliance quickly collapsed after the Islamists marginalized the Tuareg rebels and began enforcing strict Islamic laws across the region.
France began its military campaign in Mali in January 2013 after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) authorized foreign military intervention in the conflict after Islamist rebels captured several towns in central Mali and threatened to advance further into the government-controlled south.
Subsequently, French-led forces recaptured northern Mali from the rebels. The security responsibility of the recaptured region will soon be taken up a 12,600-strong U.N. peacekeeping force before planned elections on July 28. The U.N. force, known as the the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), will incorporate thousands of West African troops (AFISMA) already in the country to support the French intervention.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the deal, noting that it "commits the parties to discussing sustainable peace in Mali through an inclusive dialogue that will take place after the election."
Next month's presidential elections are considered a key step in Mali's transition process, and the U.N. and the European Commission have already signed a financing agreement for EUR14.8 million in support of the electoral process.
In a statement issued by his spokesman late on Tuesday, Ban said he was encouraged by the parties' commitment to national reconciliation and the resolution of differences through dialogue, and urged the two sides "to begin implementation of the agreement at once."
The U.N. chief also expresses his gratitude to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for its mediation efforts, led by President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, with the support of the African Union and the U.N.
Ban stressed that the U.N. "stands ready to support the implementation of the agreement through the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and other members of the United Nations system, in cooperation with the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA), the African Union and ECOWAS."
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