Western tourists kidnapped by Tuareg

Friday 23 January 2009

Unknown assailants kidnapped a group of European tourists on Thursday, including two Swiss, one German and a Briton, in Niger near the Malian border, a regional governor in Mali said.

“We just finished the latest verification and there are a total of four European tourists kidnapped on Niger’s territory close to the border with Mali: one German national, one British national and two Swiss nationals,” General Amadou Baba Toure, governor of Gao province, told AFP.

The group had been returning from a festival of nomad culture at Anderamboukane, on the border between Mali and Niger, when they were seized, the Malian authorities said.

A source in the Malian security forces confirmed the kidnapping, adding that it took place at Bani-Bangou, 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border with Mali.

Germany’s foreign ministry confirmed it had received information that a German woman had disappeared in Mali.

“The foreign ministry and the (German) embassy in Bamako are following information that a German woman disappeared today in the middle of the day in Mali,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.

“They are trying to shed light on what happened.”

In London, Britain’s foreign ministry said it had heard the reports of the kidnapping but could not confirm British nationals were involved.

The north of Mali has been the scene of violent clashes between Tuareg rebel groups and the Malian army in recent years.

The Tuareg are a nomadic desert people who have roamed the southern Sahara for centuries. In recent years they have staged uprisings in both Mali and Niger, claiming autonomy for their traditional homeland.

Two Canadian diplomats, one of them the United Nations envoy to Niger, disappeared in Niger in early December and are presumed kidnapped.

The car UN envoy Robert Fowler and his assistant Louis Guay were traveling in was discovered on December 15 at the side of the road in an apparently trouble-free area close to the capital Niamey. It’s engine was running and the vehicle’s doors were wide open.

Last week Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja said the diplomats were being held by terrorist groups.

“All the investigations undertaken indicate they are being held hostage by terrorist groups,” Tanja said, referring to Tuareg rebel groups operating in the north of the country.

http://www.france24.com/en/20090122-tuaregs-kidnap-western-tourists-mali-officials-niger-rebels

Video Tuareg Camp in Mali

Travel Alert by the US Department of State

January 07, 2009

This Travel Alert is being issued to alert U.S. citizens of a kidnapping threat against Westerners who attend the “Festival in the Desert” at Essakane (65 kilometres north of Timbuktu) from January 8-10, and to reiterate that visitors should avoid northern Mali, including Essakane and Essouk (500 kilometers north east of Timbuktu) where the “Sahara Nights” festival is held. This replaces the Travel Alert for Mali issued on December 10, 2008 to update information on areas of concern, and to strongly urge U.S. citizens against travel to northern Mali. It expires on April 15, 2009.

Because of recent armed conflicts, kidnappings, armed robberies, and the continued presence of Al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Department of State strongly urges that U.S. citizens avoid all travel to northern Mali. AQIM has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States. The presence of AQIM and Tuareg rebel groups in northern Mali presents serious potential dangers to travelers.

Areas of particular concern include the Mali-Niger, Mali-Algeria, and Mali-Mauritania borders, the Kidal region, and areas north of Timbuktu, including Essakane. The Department of State has information that Westerners attending Timbuktu’s Festival in the Desert at Essakane, scheduled for January 8-10, 2009, may be targeted for kidnapping.

Travelers in Mali should be aware that visits by U.S. government employees to Timbuktu, the region of Kidal, and areas to the north and east of the town of Gao, must be approved by the Embassy’s Chief of Mission due to security concerns. Individuals traveling north of Timbuktu or to the region of Kidal often travel with Malian military escorts. However, an August 2007 attack by Tuareg rebels on a convoy escorted by Malian military personnel illustrates that this does not ensure safety.

While the government of Mali is working to strengthen security in northern Mali and achieve a peaceful settlement with Tuareg rebels, northern Mali remains unstable. On December 20, 2008, Tuareg rebels attacked the Malian military base in Nampala, the northernmost town in the central region of Segou. Subsequent security incidents involving Tuareg rebels occurred near the towns of Nara, Goumbou, and Mouridah in the region of Koulikoro on December 24-27. On October 31, 2008, in northern Mali, AQIM freed two Austrian tourists kidnapped in Tunisia eight months earlier. On October 16, 2008, bandits in the Kidal region of Mali carjacked two vehicles belonging to the International Committee for the Red Cross. Disparate Tuareg rebel groups attacked Malian military units in Tessalit in July 2008, in Abeibara in May 2008, and in Tinzawaten and Bourghessa in March 2008. On January 3, 2008, four Italians were robbed at gunpoint near Araouane, Mali, 150 miles north of Timbuktu by assailants whose affiliation remains unknown.

In September 2007, armed rebels attacked the Malian military garrison at Tinzawaten. On August 30, 2007, a truck transporting civilians from Algeria to Tinzawaten, Mali, hit a landmine, killing at least 14 people. On August 26-27, 2007, Tuareg dissidents attacked and kidnapped civilian and military convoys near the Mali-Niger border.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_3835.html

Battle at military post in Nampala

Saturday 20 December 2008

Nine soldiers were killed and 12 wounded in an attack Saturday attributed to Tuareg rebels on a military post at Nampala in the north of Mali, the defence ministry announced early Sunday.

The ministry said 11 “assailants” had been killed and “many wounded.”

A source close to rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga told AFP earlier that at least 20 Malian soldiers had been killed.

The defence ministry said in a statement that on Saturday morning the post at Nampala 500 kilometres (300 miles) bortheast of Bamako “was attacked by a gang linked to drug traffickers. Toll: army and security forces, nine dead and 12 wounded; assailants, 11 dead and many wounded.”

Questioned by AFP a ministry official said the “assailants” had arrived in vehicles formally identified as those belonging to drug traffickers.

“We were looking for these vehicles, so those who came in them must be linked to the drug traffic,” the source said.

Earlier the source close to Ag Bahanga said: “We gained the upper hand in the attack because we were prepared. On the army side there were more than 20 dead. We regret that, but it was them or us. We have wounded on our side.”

Ag Bahanga has called for the army to leave the nearby town of Tinezawaten. The army has always refused, saying that it is used by international drug traffickers with whom Ag Bahanga is accused of being involved.

A local administration official in Nampala said there were “dead and wounded on both sides” but was unable to provide further details of the attack, launched overnight with the apparent aim of capturing the town’s barracks.

Other officials said troop reinforcements had been dispatched earlier to the town, which lies near the border with Mauritania.

An independent source in the region, contacted by AFP, said civilians had been killed in the clashes.

The attacks came days after Mali’s President Amadou Toumani Toure called on Tuareg rebels operating in the northern desert regions to lay down their arms and agree on a new peace deal.

Tuareg rebels regrouped recently in the mountainous regions close to the Algerian and Mauritanian borders and are calling on the government to honour an agreement signed between the two sides in 2006.

In the deal, rebels dropped their demand for autonomy for the Kidal region after the government pledged to speed up the development of three northern regions in Mali.

The president also said he planned to visit the city of Kidal shortly, the provincial capital of the Kidal region where the majority of the rebels operate.

The Tuaregs are a nomadic desert people who have roamed the southern Sahara for centuries. In recent years they have staged uprisings in both Mali and Niger claiming autonomy for their traditional homeland.

http://www.france24.com/en/20081220-clash-between-government-troops-tuareg-rebels-leaves-20-dead-

Ceasefire between Malian govt and Tuareg rebels

Monday 21 July 2008

Mali’s government and Tuareg rebels reached a ceasefire agreement on Monday to end almost a year of sporadic clashes in the country’s vast northern desert, Algeria’s official APS news agency said.

The truce came after four days of talks in the Algerian capital between government envoys and members of the rebel Democratic Alliance for Change mediated by Algeria’s ambassador to Mali, Abdelkrim Ghrib.

“The two delegations representing the government of Mali and the Democratic Alliance for Change reached on Monday in Algiers an agreement on the cessation of hostilities,” APS quoted Ghrib as saying.

“We reached a series of decisions including the need to stop hostilities between the two conflicting parties and ensure the enforcement on the ground and monitoring of this (ceasefire)”.

A team of 200 members representing both parties was set up to oversee the implementation of the agreement, APS said.

Ghrib said the parties had stressed the need to address remaining issues such as the fate of refugees, prisoners on both sides and families who had sought refuge in the border region.

Mali, Africa’s third-biggest gold producer, has struggled to end the escalating rebellion by the Tuareg nomads who took up arms last year demanding greater rights for their people.

Tuareg live in various countries across the Sahara.

Mali’s army, backed and trained by the United States as part of Washington’s “war on terrorism”, accuses the rebels of trying to control cross-border smuggling routes for arms and drugs.

The conflict follows similar rebellions in the 1960s and 1990s by the Tuareg, who traditionally oppose inference from outsiders.

The new round of talks in Algiers followed the failure of a recent ceasefire deal mediated by the Gaddafi Foundation, a charitable organisation chaired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam.

The Algiers talks aimed to ensure that all parties in the conflict respect commitments made in a 2006 Algerian-brokered deal for the Kidal region in northeast Mali, APS quoted a diplomatic source as saying on Sunday.

That agreement involved several clauses including an economic development plan for Kidal. Ghrib said the latest ceasefire honoured the spirit of the 2006 agreement.

http://www.france24.com/en/20080721-mali-goverment-tuareg-rebels-ceasefire-talks

Asking directions for the location from where 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser depart from Timbuktu to other locations in Mali, I end up in this small sandy bureau in the city centre near the central market.

It seems that a 4×4 was leaving the next day and it would be advisable if I somehow paid half of the money to fully book my seat and make sure I had a place. The guy selling the tickets asked me the name of my hotel for morning pickup.

• Timbuktu to Mopti 4×4 trip shared front seat = 12500 CFA

I paid the money and the next morning, the 4×4 picked me up in front of my hotel, making me wait for approximately 1 hour.

The trip was yet to start and the nice 4×4 they showed me the day before to convince me to go with them, end up to be a really lousy and old 4wd. At least I got the front seat along with another guy.

After picking up the rest of the people to start the long journey, we drove a few dozen kms to pass the Niger River over a brief ferry-boat trip to the other side.

The 4wd run down many times and we had to wait lots of time that the guy and his friend fixed the car to be able to go along the journey. This took about 4 or 5 hours more than normal and waiting under the strong Sun was not easy, but, ok, I enjoyed the adventure.

We had to switch to a bus in Douentza that the guy from the 4wd paid and made sure I got a place all the way to Mopti.

4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser from Timbuktu to Mopti

4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser from Timbuktu to Mopti, Mali

Ferry-boat crossing Niger River

Ferry Boat crossing Niger River, Mali

Toyota Land Cruiser breakdown

Toyota Land Cruiser Bus from Timbuktu to Douentza, Mali

This white construction with several guns is the actual place where more than 3000 weapons were burnt at the end of the Tuareg rebellion back in the 1990’s.

The monument recalls the old problem of the Tuaregs and the Mali government. What happened was that in 1960 when Mali got independence from France, the Tuaregs were kind of forgotten by the central power in Bamako, empowered by African leaders from another ethnic group.

Tuareg regions were and are seen as a different part of the country where still strong nomadic and ancient Sahara culture clashes with nowadays politics and country division. Tuareg rebels dropped their demand for autonomy for the Kidal region after the government assured to speed up the development of three northern regions in Mali.

Still in 2008 many Tuareg attacks in the Sahara regions and cities like Gao and Bourem cause Malian army to stay alert. When I got into Gao, I had to go to the police station to register myself with the police chief. Also, Malians from other cities have to register as I went there with a guy from Keyes. He also registered.

The Flame of Peace is right opposite of the hotel I stayed a couple of nights, also, in front of the monument the Sahara starts so if you’re up to some dune trekking go for it.

Monument Flame of Peace in Timbuktu

Monument Flame of Peace in Timbuktu, Mali

Guns in Flame of Peace in Timbuktu

Burnt Guns in Monument Flame of Peace in Timbuktu, Mali

Festivals in Mali

Dogon Countries Mask Cerimonies
April to May

Bozo Fishing Celebrations
February

Marionette Festival in Diarabougou
November

Markala Fulani Cattle Crossing
December to January

Bamako Biennal Sport and Cultural Event
September in even years

Essakane Festival in the Desert
(www.festival-au-desert.com)
January

Festival Andéramboukane
(Mali – Niger border)
January

Festival Sur le Niger
February

Public Holidays in Mali in 2009

• 1 January – New Year’s Day
• 20 January – Armed Forces’ Day
• 9 March – Mawloud (Prophet’s Birthday)
• 10 April – Easter Monday
• 13 April – Day of Democracy
• 1 May – Labour Day
• 25 May – Africa Day
• 22 September – Independence Day
• 21 September – Korité (End of Ramadan)
• 28 November – Tabaski (Feast of the Sacrifice)
• 25 December – Christmas Day

• Internet 1 hour = 750 CFA

2 modest rooms with air conditioner have many computers that work a bit slowly but it’s for sure the finest speed you can get on this part of the desert.

Lebazy Internet Cyber café is located on the same building as Tizimi Nightclub all the way east on Rue Aldousseini o Touré and turning left before getting to Pharmacie Attibey.

Door of Lebazy Internet Cyber Café in Gao

Door of Lebazy Internet Cyber Café in Gao, Mali

Inside Lebazy Internet Cyber Café in Gao, Mali

Inside Lebazy Internet Cyber Café in Gao, Mali

There’s some sort of ethnic park inside the fenced complex but you can easily climb up on the opposite part of the museum, or, just go inside from the front gate.

You can sight an amazing panorama bird view over Bamako, something really nice to just stay and relax reading a book.

I went inside on the garden gate in front of the museum, and, went climbing down the hill on the other side. I end up on the road.

This hill is the location of the old military hospital of the Point G, built between 1906 and 1913.

Top View over Bamako in Mali

Top View over Bamako in Mali

Top View over Bamako in Mali

Top View over Bamako in Mali

La Dune Rose means The Pink Dune and the name comes from the specific colours the sand reflects at dawn and nightfall. This dune is also known as Koyma, the small town at its base.

To arrive to the dune you have to take a pirogue trip into the river. You can get someone to take you there in Gao centre as you’ll have plenty of people offering you this kind of service. After discussing the price for a long time, I finally agreed on paying 10.000 CFA = 15.2 Euros, for a 4 hour trip. It seems this price could be shared with more people but I was alone. Neither the way, the money was worth it and the 2 guys that took me really deserved it (I do think the money was not enough for their effort).

As the river was dry near the city port (dry season) we had to walk the dry river bank for almost 30 minutes until we took this small pirogue. The boat was slowly filling with water inside. No worries.

After we arrived to the dune, the guide and the pirogue owner left me alone for a 30 minutes climb.

This amazing 4 hour trip was impressive and you can basically watch fishermen in action and notice small villages on the way.

Pirogue trip in Niger River to the Dune Rose

Pirogue trip in Niger River to the Dune Rose in Gao, Mali

View from the top of Dune Rose in Gao

View from the top of Dune Rose in Gao, Mali

This museum has a huge garden and it makes quite an agreeable escape to Bamako intense and chaotic centre city life.

The museum presents permanent and temporary exhibits on the prehistory of Mali, displaying different room within several buildings that show musical instruments, dresses, loincloths and ritual objects associated with Mali’s various ethnic groups.

There’s a very nice collection of masks and of cloths from different regions of the country.

In 1956, the National Museum moved into a new cemented structure, created by the architect Jean-Loup Pivin from traditional Malian designs.

With the 1996 election of a former archaeologist Alpha Oumar Konaré to Mali’s presidency, the museums funding and quality has increased significantly.

The museum is very well taken care of and apart from the indoors collections you can also appreciate different types of Malian structures built on a smaller scale in the garden.

The National Museum of Mali is located on Avenue de la Liberté and it’s better if you take a taxi from the city centre (around 1000CFA). Personally I walked all the way there but I took a taxi on the way back after I climbed the Point G hill.

Museum WEBSITE
http://www.mnm-mali.org/ 

Entrance of National Museum of Mali

Entrance of National Museum of Mali in Bamako

Outdoor exhibit of National Museum of Mali

Inside National Museum of Mali in Bamako

Mali Masks Room in National Museum of Mali

African Masks Room in National Museum of Mali in Bamako

From its people, Bambara are the biggest ethnic group with 33% of the population, Fulani with 10%, Senoufo around 9%, Songhay 7%, Malinke with 6%, Tuareg 5%, and Dogon the smallest faction with 4% of the population.

From the 50 languages in Mali, French is the official one and Bambara is the most extensively spoken. Overall, 13 of the native language of Mali have the legal status of national language.

Official language

• French (Standard)

National languages

• Bambara
• Bomu
• Tieyaxo Bozo
• Toro So Dogon
• Maasina Fulfulde
• Hasanya Arabic
• Mamara Senoufo
• Kita Maninkakan
• Soninke
• Koyraboro Senni Songhay
• Syenara Senoufo
• Tamasheq
• Xaasongaxango

Lingua francas

• Bambara
• French
• Fula
• Songhai

All languages and dialects of Mali

(language name, dialect, family group, total speakers)

• French, Indo-European, 9,000
• Hasanya, dialect Arabic, Afro-Asiatic / Semitic, 106,100
• Bambara or Bamanankan, dialect Manding, Niger-Congo / Mande, 2,700,000
• Bomu, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 102,000
• Tiéyaxo, dialect Bozo, Niger-Congo / Mande, 117,696
• Toro So, dialect Dogon, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 50,000
• Fulfulde, Maasina, dialect Fula, Niger-Congo / Atlantic, 911,200
• Maninkakan & Kita, dialect Manding, Niger-Congo / Mande, 600,000
• Mamara, dialect Senufo, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 737,802
• Syenara, dialect Senufo, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 136,500
• Koyraboro Senni, dialect Songhay, Nilo-Saharan, 400,000
• Soninke, Niger-Congo / Mande National, 700,000
• Tamasheq, dialect Tamashek, Afro-Asiatic / Berber, 250,000
• Xaasongaxango, Khassonke, dialect Manding, Niger-Congo / Mande, 120,000
• Bankagooma, Niger-Congo / Mande, 5,085
• Bobo Madaré, Niger-Congo / Mande, 18,400
• Hainyaxo, dialect Bozo, Niger-Congo / Mande, 117,696
• Jenaama, dialect Bozo, Niger-Congo / Mande, 100,000
• Tièma Cièwè, dialect Bozo, Niger-Congo / Mande, 2,500
• Bangeri Me, dialect Dogon, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 1,200
• Bondum Dom, dialect Dogon, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 24,700
• Dogul Dom, dialect Dogon, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 15,700
• Donno So, dialect Dogon, family Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 45,300
• Jamsay, dialect Dogon, family Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 130,000
• Kolum So, dialect Dogon, family Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 24,000
• Tene Kan, dialect Dogon, family Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 127,000
• Tomo Kan, dialect Dogon, family Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 132,800
• Toro Tegu, dialect Dogon, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 2,900
• Duungooma, Niger-Congo / Mande, 70,000
• Jahanka, Niger-Congo / Mande, 500
• Jalunga, Dyalonke, Niger-Congo / Mande, 9,000
• Jowulu, Niger-Congo / Mande, 10,000
• Jula, Dioula Manding, Niger-Congo, 50,000
• Kagoro Manding, Niger-Congo / Mande, 15,000
• Koromfé, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 100
• Maninkakan, dialect Manding, Niger-Congo / Mande, 100,000
• Marka, Niger-Congo / Mande, 25,000
• Mòoré, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 17,000
• Pana, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 2,800
• Pulaar, dialect Fula, Niger-Congo / Atlantic, 175,000
• Pular, dialect Fula, Niger-Congo / Atlantic, 50,000
• Sàmòmá, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 6 villages
• Sìcìté, dialect Senufo, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 4 villages
• Supyire, dialect Senufo, Niger-Congo / Volta-Congo, 364,000
• Humburi Senni, dialect Songhay, Nilo-Saharan, 15,000
• Koyra Chiini, dialect Songhay, Nilo-Saharan, 200,000
• Tadaksahak, dialect Songhay, Nilo-Saharan, 30,000
• Tamajaq, dialect Tamashek, Afro-Asiatic / Berber, 190,000
• Zarmaci, dialect Songhay, Nilo-Saharan, 2 villages

I got there and it seems the building was abandoned and after knocking the door for quite a long time I decided I had to eat something and wait no more. So I went to the restaurant just aside and ordered some spaghetti, French fries and an omelette. I first asked the guy for a 5 litres jar of water since I was feeling quite dehydrated from the 4×4 trip.

Somehow I was told some other cheaper hotels existed so I went to see a new one just across the street, on the corner where the Flame de la Paix Monument square begins. Hotel Camping La Paix looked great and I could get a single room, mosquito net protected and fan equipped room for 4000 CFA (6,16 EURO).

Hotel La Paix is a big camping facility with around 10 rooms and a huge parking place perfect for 4×4 as the whole hotel is surrounded by big walls. Everything in Timbuktu looks abandoned, so, this hotel isn’t an exception and although it’s new it looks like people used to come there few years ago.

I was really well received and the owners were really nice offered me tea and I shared a very important football game on TV. Mali was playing with Morocco.

Monument Flame de la Paix is located around 2km from the city centre so expect so pass a residential district all the way to get to the city centre. Not far, just takes you around 15 minutes walking.

Also the best about Hotel Camping La Paix is that it has a really nice restaurant right on the other side of the road and a nice pub night club if you’re into some dancing you’ll be really well received.

Entrance to Hotel La Paix in Timbuktu, Mali

Entrance to Hotel La Paix in Timbuktu, Mali

Room in Hotel La Paix in Timbuktu, Mali

Room in Hotel La Paix in Timbuktu, Mali