Svært bevæbnede rebelstyrker fra tuareg-folket har søndag også erobret Timbuktu, den sidste store by på regeringshænder i det nordlige Mali, et karrigt kup-ramt land i Sahara-ørkenens sydlige udkant.
This is part of a series of reports from IRIN on the crisis in northern Mali exploring the MNLA rebellion, and the impact of AQIM
DAKAR, 29 March 2012 (IRIN): Mopti in central Mali had a thriving tourism industry a few years ago, but Issa Ballo, a private tour operator, says the city built at the confluence of two rivers and often described as the ‘Gateway to the North’ still has everything in terms of “adventure, discovery and culture”.
The cliff-dwelling Dogon people with their distinctive culture are a few hours’ drive away; Timbuktu, a centuries-old centre of Islamic learning, was receiving a steady stream of visitors. “Now, you can count the tourists on the fingers of one hand”, Ballo complained. “It is only… the really courageous who come here.”
He blames the embassies in Bamako, the capital, for issuing security alerts and declaring “no go zones” for their nationals. He accuses the media of exaggerating the problems in the north, “making out there is a gun pointed at your head everywhere you go.”
But his strongest contempt is for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM, known as AQMI in French), the radical Muslim group that appears to have a stranglehold over parts of northern Mali and beyond, despite its modest numbers and murky agenda (andre rapporter gør gældende, at det drejer sig om tuareg-rebeller, som vil have deres egen nation red.).
“They are bandits, thieves, criminals… murderers”, Ballo says. “Ninety-five percent of people in Mali are Muslims… and we have never read in the Koran that you should take someone’s life to gain money. Al-Qaeda, AQIM, I do not consider these people to be Muslims – they are just a kind of mafia with very long arms.”
Threat or fake?
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