{{Three armed movements from northern Mali have signed a joint statement in Algiers declaring that they are ready to work for peace with the Bamako government, Algeria’s foreign ministry said.}}
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the High Council for the Unity of Azawad (HCUA) and the Arab Movement of Azawad (MAA) signed the “Algiers Declaration” late Monday, demanding “inclusive” peace and political talks in their troubled country.
The top leaders of the MNLA and HCUA, formed by ethnic Tuareg who have since 1962 launched four uprisings to fight Mali’s army over the territory they claim as their homeland and call Azawad, have been in the Algerian capital since Thursday.
The secular MAA, which seeks sweeping autonomy in Mali’s part of the Sahara and the Sahel, has joined forces with them to try to enhance “the momentum under way for peace”, according media.
The three movements said they were seeking a “definitive” solution to decades of instability in northern Mali by “taking account of the legitimate claims of the local population with full respect for the territorial integrity and the national unity of Mali”, the statement said.
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