Blurb: The violence raised fears about disruptions to the July 28 presidential election pushed for by France and Western donors.
BAMAKO: Mali’s government accused northern Tuareg separatists on Saturday of violating a cease-fire deal signed last month after 4 people were killed in ethnic violence in the northern town of Kidal, a week ahead of elections.
The violence raised fears about disruptions to the July 28 presidential election, pushed for by France and Western donors and meant to draw a line under a March 2012 coup that led to a 10-month seizure of northern Mali by Al-Qaeda-linked rebels.
Shops were looted and vehicles burned in two days of clashes between pro-separatist Tuareg youths and black Africans in the desert town. Malian troops and UN peacekeepers deployed on Friday to restore calm.
“Armed men attacked the population favorable to Mali in the town of Kidal, killing four people,” said a government communique, calling the events a violation of the truce agreed signed in Ouagadougou, the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso.
The MNLA separatist group has said none of its fighters were involved in the clashes and that it has honored the Ouagadougou agreement
Malian authorities appealed to major powers to ensure respect for the agreement and efforts to organize the end-month vote. France, the former colonial power in Mali, has troops stationed in Kidal.
The June cease-fire deal between Mali and the MNLA allowed government soldiers and officials to return to Kidal. The remote northern town, a traditional separatist stronghold, had been recaptured by the MNLA in February when a French military campaign drove out the Al-Qaeda linked militants.
Under the terms of the deal, MNLA fighters were supposed to remain off the streets.
Paris, which sent 4,000 soldiers to crush the Al-Qaeda linked militants enclave in northern Mali, wants the election to go ahead on time as it seeks to wind down its military presence and hand over to a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission still being deployed.
Civic advocacy groups and some local politicians have warned that, with government administration in northern Mali in tatters, the country is not yet read to hold an election.
The interim government is aiming to distribute voting cards to some 80 percent of the 6.8 million registered voters in Mali in time for the election.
Mali on edge after deadly pre-poll clashes
