Frygten lurer i de byer, hvorfra islamisterne er fordrevet af franske styrker og Malis regeringshær – tuereger, andre mindretal og enhver “fremmed” mødes med mistro, mens udisciplinerede soldater fra hæren hærger.
KONNA, 31 January 2013 (IRIN): Seyo Sangho’s husband was arrested by Malian army soldiers at the central market in Konna in central Mali, 900 km north of the capital Bamako, after getting into an argument with another man.
“I have not seen him since. That was 10 days ago,” she says.
Residents of Konna told IRIN they are suspicious of everyone: bearded men, women in hijabs, beggars from the Dogon plateau, students in the Koranic school, and the army, which is said to be a little trigger-happy.
Throughout Mali many blame the Tuaregs for opening the door to the rebels and assisting them in seizing two thirds of the country. Tuareg separatists took control of the north in April but were quickly pushed aside by well-armed Islamist groups.
Even non-Tuaregs and non-Arabs are scared.
“I do not take my car in the evening. If I hear a soldier asking me to stop, I know it is over,” Cheiko, a driver from Sévaré, 60 km south of Konna, told IRIN.
Network of informants
The national authorities have announced a hotline to report cases of suspected jihadists (“hellige krigere”), as part of a network of informants to watch out for any strangers.
Some say they fear the line is being used too hastily, and many Peulhs and Tuaregs are fleeing the towns of Diabaly, Konna and Douentza, afraid of being seen as infiltrators.
“People disappear and are never seen again. Any movements or people who are not known in the neighbourhood risk being reported,” said Aissata, a young woman in Konna.
In Mopti and Sévaré – next-door to each another – people have also changed their behaviour, most trying to keep a low profile.
“We are not suspicious by nature, this is a very cosmopolitan town,” said the mayor of Mopti, Oumar Bahtily, adding:
“However, the way things have turned out we have had to change our habits.”
“We are not targeting Tuaregs or ethnic Arabs, but if a stranger arrives in town, we need to know who it is,” he continued.
Teenagers executed, say witnesses
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97386/Killings-disappearances-in-Mali-s-climate-of-suspicion
