By RFPosted on 03-12-2019Modified on 03-12-2019 at 13:35

The debate over the opening of negotiations with terrorists has resurfaced in Bamako since several initiatives for dialogue with radical groups have been initiated in the center of the country.

On November 22, the famous lawyer Hassan Barry is heard by the Directorate General of State Security. The Malian intelligence service suspects him of complicity with the terrorists. He will stay three days in the offices of the DGSE until his profession calls for his immediate release.

At the time of his imprisonment, a video broadcast by the Saudi news channel Al-Arabya, ignites social networks. We see the lawyer next to the colonel of the Malian army Mamadou Lamine Konaré, face to face with Amadou Koufa . The radical Fulani leader of central Mali joined forces in 2017 with the GSIM, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, which has itself pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.

"The discussions were perfectly framed and known to the highest authorities of the state, " said Hassan Barry in a statement released Tuesday, November 26, the day after his release from detention. Yet, the official position of Bamako is clear: no negotiations with the jihadists.

Other initiatives exist to bring peace to the center

Hassan Barry is not alone in having spoken with Amadou Koufa. Some representatives of Faso Dambé Ton, an association defending traditional values, claim to have met the head of Katiba Macina. " For five years we worked alone. The state did not want to hear about discussions in central Mali, "said Adama Coulibaly, president of Faso Dambé Ton. But, in 2017, the president of the association begins the process of mediation by meeting a first armed group: that of traditional hunters grouped in community self-defense militia in the region of Ségou, Ké-Macina and Djenné.

" At the end of this rally, these fighters asked us to go talk with the other armed groups active in the region : the jihadists, " he said. Searches to go back to their leader begin, but do not succeed. " It was only after a big meeting at the Ministry of Reconciliation that things were unblocked ." Passing through Fulani notables, communication channels are open and " Faso Dambé Ton meets Amadou Koufa in the summer of 2019, " says Adama Coulibaly. The goal? Negotiate a truce in the Dogon country.

Because in the Mopti region, in the circles of Bandiagara, Koro and Bankass mainly, the armed groups of the zone, the traditional hunters of Dan Nan Ambassagou or the groups which claim the jihad place themselves in protector of their respective community , dogon or peul, to control the territory. If no official count exists, civilian casualties can be counted by the hundreds since the beginning of the year. In March alone, the attack on Ogossagou village killed more than 150 people, according to the United Nations.

►Also read: Mali, the cities of Koro and Bankass taken in jihadist claws

In order to bring peace to the center, some mediation attempts by the Minusma (the United Nations peacekeeping mission) or by other non-governmental organizations exist. Peace agreements were even signed between representatives of the Dogon and Fulani communities in August 2019 under the aegis of Prime Minister Boubou Cissé. But today, according to several security analysts, jihadist groups have expanded their influence in central Mali, especially on the strategic stretch that connects the capital of the region, Mopti, to the neighboring country, Burkina Faso.

Is the negotiation with the jihadists one of the solutions to the crisis ?

" The chances of defeating the Katiba Macina by weapons are slim," reads a report published in May 2019 by the International Crisis Group , the Malian authorities should give religious leaders the means to initiate talks with its leaders while by encouraging a broader dialogue between the communities of central Mali, including those that are conducive to insurgency. "

🇲🇱 A report from the International @CrisisGroup believes that a dialogue with the #jihadists is an option that should be considered in #Mali. To 🎤 from @mpoRFI #RFImatin #Afriquematin 👇 pic.twitter.com/c5xj4wZYcS

RFI (@RFI) May 29, 2019

Except that negotiation as a solution to the crisis of the center is not an idea shared by all the Malian political class. " Attempts to approach Kufa will certainly not do much, " said Moussa Sinko Coulibaly. Even if the former general who is now a political opponent is not strongly opposed to the discussion with the radicals, " we must first ask ourselves what is our share of responsibility ? Because those who are comfortable with the presence of jihadists have no choice. It takes a strong team in Bamako. The fundamental ingredient before starting anything is to establish good governance, "says the unfortunate candidate for the 2018 presidential election.

Today, some Western countries, especially France, are opposed to possible negotiations. The idea would even be " catastrophic ", according to General Lecointre, French chief of staff, invited on France Inter after the death of the thirteen French soldiers in Mali.

►Also read: Death of 13 French soldiers in Mali, General François Lecointre guest of RFI

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