Algeria Rejected Secret Request to Conduct Military Intervention in Mali

Algeria has rejected recurrent requests from Mali to conduct a military intervention in the Western African country, a diplomatic source revealed to Echorourk reporter.The source, on condition of anonymity, mentioned that ousted Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure has discreetly requested President Bouteflika to deploy army forces to counter the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which converted later into al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) after paying allegiance to al-Qaeda. The same request was made to former chief of staff of the Algerian National Army, late Mohamed Lamari,during a visit he paid to Bamako, but both requests have been rejected by the Algerian authorities, which disfavor military intervention in foreign countries, the diplomatic official said.As how would the Algerian authorities manage the hostages crisis, the source said “Algeria has firm position in this term: it does neither accept conducting a military intervention, nor launching direct talks with the abductors; yet, I’d say that it would favor a peaceful compromise solution that would lead to free the diplomats.”The source further mentioned that the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) has seized a house located near the consulate of Algeria in the city of Gao. This house used to be a refuge for President Bouteflika during the liberation war against the French occupation in the fifties. The house was purchased four years ago by the Embassy of Algeria in Mali.