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Northern Mali rebels to sign peace agreement

Xinhua, April 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) which brings together a number of northern Mali rebel groups, will sign the Algiers peace agreement on April 15, 2015, Mali's Prime Minister Modibo Keita said on Thursday.

While addressing political leaders and civil society actors in Bamako, Keita affirmed that the Algerian mediation team had given this information to the Malian government.

He said the government which had already signed the peace agreement, will not take part in the April 15 signing ceremony," although it could organize its team of representatives if requested by the mediators."

With regards to signing of the final peace agreement, Keita noted that "the roadmap is very clear that this will be done in Mali."

However, it is the mediators who will set the date for the signing of the final peace agreement, he said.

The CMA had refused to sign the agreement on March 1 alongside the government and other rebel groups, because it argued that its demands for autonomy were not addressed in the document.

Mali's opposition leader Soumaila Cisse has urged the government to play a leading role by fixing the date for the signing of the final peace agreement and also setting the conditions as well as those who will attend the ceremony.

However, there's already confusion regarding the signing of the document on April 15 as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), which is the biggest group within CMA, has denied having agreed to the signing.

"No decision has been taken by MNLA regarding the signing or not of the document," said Attaye Ag Mohamed, the MNLA representative who was cited by the local media.

However, some CMA officials who spoke to Xinhua on phone, confirmed the signing of the peace agreement on April 15 in Algiers.

An African diplomat based in Bamako said the prevailing confusion shows there could be divisions within CMA over the ongoing peace process. Endi