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Following accusations by the Mali government associating the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) with the Islamist group Ansar Al-Din, the Tuareg movement issued a communiqué denying any such connection and clarifying that its objective was to establish a secular state in the Azawad, in the north of Mali.
The Berber website tamazagh.fr expounded on the communiqué as follows: [1]
"'Ansar Al-Din is a Malian Islamist group that has recruited young Azawadians and West Africans for the sake of an ideological struggle which we are not going to tolerate on our territory.' [This is] written in a communiqué issued by the president of MNLA's Political Bureau.
"Thus, MNLA leaves no possibility for its struggle, which remains a struggle for the national liberation of Azawad, to be merged with the activities of obscurantist groups which are enemies of Azawad, although the latter also [comprise] Tuaregs. With this communiqué, it becomes clear that MNLA has no ties with Iyad Ghali's jihadi movement, Ansar Al-Din, which is not welcome in Azawad. This clarification was needed as a response to the anti-Tuareg propaganda which aims to sow confusion and discredit MNLA's struggle for the independence of Azawad."
Following is a translation of the French communiqué:
"Press release
"MNLA calls to the attention of Azawad national [public] opinion and of international [public] opinion that the objectives and determination driving our struggle remain very clearly [linked] to the independence of Azawad.
"[The news about] mergers spread by the Malian press and reiterated by the international press are the work of a large disinformation endeavor and of a manipulation of public opinion, orchestrated by Mali and its allies, with an aim of tarnishing our noble struggle, which is the liberation of the territory of Azawad.
"The republic for which we are fighting [and for which we are willing to pay] the price of ultimate sacrifice, is based on the principles of democracy and secularism. There should be no possible confusion between our struggle and that of the criminals aiming to instate a theocratic regime, in total contradiction with our cultural and civilization foundations.
"With the purpose of eliminating any ambiguity concerning [the rumors] of mergers orchestrated by the Bamako authorities and their acolytes, we denounce the falsehoods and gross fabrications which aim to blur the democratic, secular, and revolutionary objectives of our fight for freedom.
"Ansar Al-Din is a Malian Islamist group that has recruited young Azawadians and West Africans for the sake of an ideological struggle which we are not going to tolerate on our territory. The people of Azawad remains united, standing together and determined, more than ever, to traverse the whole distance to attain the goals it has set for itself.
"MNLA calls on the people of Azawad to be wary of all the expected manipulations, which certainly will not be the last, that aim to dishearten us and make us renounce the dearest thing we have, namely the restoration of our dignity through the independence of eternal Azawad.
"Long live free, secular, democratic Azawad."
Endnotes:
[1] Tamazgha.fr, March 21, 2012
