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Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist groups occupying northern Mali, is ready to negotiate with Bamako and has nothing to do with terrorism, a source close to peace talks in Algiers said Tuesday.
“We have nothing to do with terrorism. We condemn terrorism, we condemn those who kidnap hostages,” the source close to the Ansar Dine delegation told AFP by telephone, on condition of anonymity.
“We want an agreement with Bamako. We want direct discussion with our brothers in Bamako,” he said.
Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith in Arabic) has sent envoys to Ouagadougou and Algiers for negotiations over its seven-month occupation of northern Mali, as regional armies and Western powers are preparing a military intervention to expel them.
On Tuesday they will meet with lead mediator, Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, who hopes to convince them to cut ties with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The involvement of the north African Al-Qaeda branch in the occupation has spiked concerns among Mali’s neighbours and Western powers that the vast desert zone could become a haven for terrorists.
Ansar Dine, and another Islamist group, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), have imposed strict sharia law in the north and destroyed world heritage sites which they consider “idolatrous”.
