1-6 February 2016
Weekly Media Monitoring report for Mali
Posted on February 10, 2016
Contents
Compiled by Tinah Dembele
- Mausoleums, symbols of peace renovated
- Peace Accord
- Al-Qaeda responsible for UN base attacks
- Security improvements
1. Mausoleums, symbols of peace renovated
International media
“Mali: Timbuktu’s destroyed Mausoleums renovate" Africa News, February 5th, 2016
- In 2012 Islamic Jihadist demolished mausoleum in Timbuktu which were national symbols of peace since the 15th and 16th century
- Working with historians, architects and old photos of the buildings, restoration has began
- This is one of the strategies applied to the restoration of the country’s history after Jihadist attacks which are also responsible for the disappearance and destruction of close to ten thousands manuscripts
2. Peace Accords
State-owned media
“La MINUSMA et la Société civile engagées pour une mise en œuvre inclusive de l’Accord pour la Paix et la Réconciliation au Mali” Mali Web February 3, 2016
- In order to ensure the peace accord is being effective members of the UN along Malian ‘s civil societies organisations met to discuss how to achieve national reconciliation
- In attendance were representatives from Muslim, Catholic , youth, women groups and ethnic communities such as the Peuhl
- The meeting’s main goal was to establish a dialogue with all groups in hopes of strengthening ties with the community and MINUSMA
- Participants indicated the importance of having discussions in different ethnic languages
3. Al-Qaeda responsible for UN base attacks
International media
“Al Qaeda claims responsibility for attack on U.N. base in Mali” Reuters, February 6th, 2016
- On Friday Feb 5th ,2016 the northern city of Timbuktu was again victim of Islamic attacks, as Jihadist stormed a UN police base which killed 5 people including an a Malian army commander
- After a tug of war for control of the police base, UN helicopters along with Malian army succeeded
- Attacks similar to these have become prevalent, with Hotel Palmeraie located in the city center of Timbuktu and again with the November 2015 hotel attack in Bamako which killed 20 people
4. Security
International media
“Mali : Réforme du Secteur de la Sécurité : Une nouvelle ère s’ouvre pour les FAMas“ Maliactu, February 2, 2016
- The Malian Armed Forces (FAMas in French) have been strengthened since the attacks in 2012, where many military bases were robed and leaving army men weaponless
- Jihadist took ownership of regions such as the Tombouctou, Gao and Tidal which were recaptured thanks to the help of French intervention
- After being newly elected as president, Ibrahim Boubacar’s main focus is rebuilding the security forces by purchasing new weapons , airplanes ,vehicles and even uniforms