Tunisia Reiterates Support of Malian Unity

The Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a phone interview that they pledge “total support of the territorial unity of the state of Mali.”They have joined their voice to the African Union, who has declared the independence of Azawad as “null and of no value whatsoever.”On Friday, April 6, Tuareg rebels in the northern region of Mali declared their independence from the rest of the country. The declaration comes at a time when the West African nation is struggling with the military coup staged by Captain Amadou Sonogo, leader of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State (CNRDR), on March 22. This eventually led to the resignation of President Amadou Toumani Touré from power on April 8, 2012. Sanogo now acts as the president-designate.The Tuarges are nomadic people who live in Algeria, Libya, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania. Since Mali’s independence from French rule in 1960, the Tuareg rebels of Azawad have been fighting for the independence of their province from the central government in Bamako. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) unilaterally declared the Independent State of Azawad following military conflict with the Malian Army, which retreated from the province. The Secretary General of the MNLA is Bilal Ag Acherif.Northern Mali is mainly inhabited by Tuareg people, Moors, Songhay and Fulas- all ethnic Malian groups. Azawadis speak Tamashek, Arabic, Fulfulde and Songhay languages.