adminPhilippe Lalliot, a spokesperson for the French foreign minister, said on Wednesday that it was now time for the “political process” to advance.
He called for talks with the legitimate representatives of the northern peoples and “non-terrorist armed groups” that recognise the integrity of Mali.
“Only a north-south dialogue will prepare the ground for the Malian state to return to the north of the country,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mali’s parliament adopted a political roadmap that included a commitment to holding elections by 31 July and commencing negotiations with representatives from the north.
Dioncounda Traore, Mali’s interim president, reiterated yesterday his government’s intention only to negotiate with secular groups in the north.
He told France’s RFI radio he was ready for talks with the secular Tuaregs of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (known by its French acronym, MNLA), who want an independent homeland for their people.
Traore said, however, that he would not meet with representatives from any of the three al-Qaeda-linked groups — Ansar Dine, MIA and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) — that seized northern Mali last year.
The president said that the rebel groups had pulled out of cities in the north, and that Malian and French forces would have “established a presence everywhere” within a month.
French forces arrived at Kidal airport early on Wednesday, days after having captured Gao and Timbuktu. Having taken the cities, the French military will now be seeking to hand over control of them to a combined west African military force.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s defence minister, said the troops at Kidal had been unable to leave the airport there because of a sandstorm.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the newly formed Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA), which announced on Monday that it had taken control of the town, said that its leader was in negotiations with French forces.
On Wednesday, the group appealed to the international community to prevent the deployment of Malian and West African troops in the Kidal region before a political solution had been found.
Kidal lies 1 500km northeast of the capital Bamako and until recently was controlled by Ansar Dine. — Al Jazeera
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