The FrontLine Club: Mali, A New Front in the Fight Against Terrorism?

As Mali intervention headlines gripped the world The Frontline Club’s expert First Wednesday  panel  gathered on 6^th February to discuss this new front in the fight against terrorism. Chair Paddy O’Connell began by asking the panel to outline what they most wanted the audience to know about the Malian conflict.

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