Malian leader seeks dialogue with extremist insurgents

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said Monday his government is seeking talks with extremist groups in an effort to end an insurgency that has engulfed the country, French media reported.

At least 456 civilians were killed and hundreds more wounded last year in central Mali alone, Human Rights Watch said in a report released earlier in the day.

“The number of dead in the Sahel [region] is becoming exponential. It’s time for certain avenues to be explored,” Keita said in an interview published by French media.

“Why not try to contact those who we know are pulling the strings?”

The media report indicated that Keita had sent former President Dioncounda Traore -- the government's representative in central Mali -- on a mission to find people who “could be sensitive to a discourse of reason.”

In 2017, a national conference gathering of the ruling party and opposition parties called for direct talks with armed groups, but the government was reluctant.

“We are ready to build bridges for dialogue with everyone at some point. We have to sit around a table and talk,” Keita said.

The Sahel countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are particularly targeted by recurrent attacks attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Daesh/ISIS.

Armed groups are killing, maiming and terrorizing communities throughout central Mali with no apparent fear of being held to account, the Human Rights Watch report said.

Many villagers were burned alive, while others were blown up by explosive devices, the report said, urging Malian authorities to urgently step up investigations and prosecutions of those responsible.

Last week, the UN’s top humanitarian official in Mali, Ute Kollies, called for political engagement in the Sahel conflict, noting that extra troops would not resolve the crisis.

The remarks came after France announced that an additional 600 troops would be deployed in the African Sahel region, which would bring the number to about 5,100.