Its political and military complexities were pointed out by
all the panellists. BBC journalist Ibrahima Diane said,
“We tend to think that it is Islamist against the Southern Mali, but I think it
is more complex than that.” Former Leader of the Liberal Democrats and UN High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Lord Ashdown added: “Whitehall
thinks that this is a battle of the war on terror in which Islamic extremists
have as their enemy the West (…) This is something much bigger and much wider,
this is the beginnings of a major attempt to take over the Sunni Umma by Salafists.”
The discussion moved to identify the conflicts’ major
actors, starting with the rebel forces’ composition. Wilfred Willey, the UK’s Malian
Community Council President , listed rebel groups involved as the
MNLA (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad), Anser Dine, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Oneness
of Jihad in West Africa.
Willey added,
“The latest one (Tuareg rebellion) was
hijacked by mercenaries coming from Libya and jihadists that already operated
in the Sahara,”
The panel dispelled the image of a formerly democratic Mali
as discussion moved to the Malian Government and military. Journalist Lindsey Hilsum said:
“There was this myth
that Mali was a model of democracy in Africa, it wasn’t. It was a weak and
corrupted state which happened to have periodic elections (…) the interim
president has a huge problem of legitimacy.”
Lord Ashdown answered whether this is
a new front against terrorism. He agreed that it was and explained:
“This is a takeover of a Sunni Umma as a precursor to a widening battle
between the Sunni and Shia, and we should be bloody worried about that, so the
more we can prevent this takeover of the Sunni Umar (…) the more we can avoid
that outcome.”
Ibrahima Diane was firm in his
support for the intervention of France; he said it was “One of the best decisions
from Francois Hollande.” While this gained acceptance from the panel, Ashdown stressed
that intervention “Is the easy bit.”
The panel were split in their
conclusions; Diane was hopeful about Mali’ prospects. He said, “I am optimistic
that next in Mali will be the elections, the guerrilla war I am sure will
happen but you have people there that can do that battle.”
Ashdown doubted elections could solve
Mali’s problems and said, “If you do not first of all create the rule of law,
all an election will do (…) is embed the corrupt structures into the process of
elected government.”
Watch
the full event here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XdWfWG3yQXg
