France is backing Mali in the fight against Islamist
rebels. The Malian government has lost control over large parts of the country,
and the outcome for the French intervention is uncertain.
The Sahel covers a vast area. From Senegal in West Africa
to the Horn of Africa in the East, it extends over 7,500 kilometers (4,600
miles). At its narrowest point it measures 150 kilometers, at the widest over
800. The poorest, drought and famine-stricken region of the world is a lawless
vacuum. National legal systems are non-existent. The people have their own
laws.
This is now true of northern Mali, which extends far into
the Sahel. But the republic was once a model for democracy in West Africa. With
a constitution, numerous political parties, and a national assembly, the
country has changed over the past decade from a one-party state into a more or
less functional democracy. There is not much left from former times.
"The coup against the president certainly triggered
this development," says Peter Heine, a professor emeritus of Islamic
studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
Mali is one of the poorest nations on earth
Signs of a failed state
In March 2012, the Malian Army forced President
Amadou Toumani Toure from office, seizing power for themselves. The soldiers
argued Toure was unable to control the situation in the country and compete
against the rebel Tuareg insurgents in the country's north. Toure's term in
office lasted only a few weeks. A new presidential election was imminent.
Initially, the coup played nicely into the hands of
the Tuareg. In the power vacuum left by Toure's removal, the Tuaregs - a group
that had long felt ignored by the government in Bamako - banded together with
the terror network Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). But shortly
thereafter, the Islamists broke with the Tuareg militias, who lost their
influence.
Islamist allies
The AQIM and other Islamist groups like Asar Dine are
powerful in the Sahel because of government weakness. With this knowledge,
terror cells are able to earn a lot of money through drug trafficking and
kidnapping.
"Governments pay large amounts of money for
the return of captured nationals," says Peter Pham, an expert on Africa at
the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, adding, "The group has made
literally millions over the years in ransom. That enables it to have
resources."
Islamist fighters took advantage of the recent
coup in Mali
The downfall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
strengthened the terrorist network. Mercenaries from the Sahel, who worked for
many years under Gaddafi, are returning to their homelands heavily armed.
Islamic scholar Peter Heine fears the influence of AQIM in neighboring
countries is on the rise.
"It may come to a point where we have a
completely authoritarian-free structure," he said in an interview with DW,
noting, "Hostage-taking and an incredible amount of drugs - this will only
increase."
Country without a state
There is nothing in northern Mali, deposed Malian
President Amadou Toumani Toure told the French newspaper "Le Monde
Diplomatique."
There are no roads, hospitals, schools or wells, no
infrastructure for daily living.
"A young man in the area has no chance to get
married, or have a good life, unless he steals a car and joins the
smugglers," the president added.
And if that wasn't already enough of a challenge,
the Islamist groups, led by AQIM, have chosen the remote region as their base.
Fighters from the Islamic rebel group Ansar Dine
The deployment of peacekeeping troops, which was
unanimously approved by the US Security Council at the end of 2012.
"One must define the goal of such an operation
very carefully," says Hans-Ulrich Klose, deputy chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee in the German parliament. "Is it about driving Al-Qaeda
out of the Maghreb? And if so, where should we move them?"
The prospects for France's involvement in such a
large and poverty-stricken country are limited. Experience in Afghanistan has
shown how difficult it is to intervene in a region where opponents have
numerous possibilities to withdraw and regroup.
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Reservations about its own army
Many Malians, says Charlotte Heyl from the GIGA
Institute, hope for as much European participation as possible.
"This is because they simply do not see how
their own army is able to solve the problem. They point out that the Malian
army is currently divided and is dealing with many internal conflicts. And they
are skeptical about the level of training for the army," Heyl explained.
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