afrol News, 19 August - Niger Tuareg rebels have announced that they are laying down arms together with neighbouring Mali's Tuareg rebellion following peace talks brokered by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Tuareg rebels in Saharan north of Niger and Mali took up arms against their respective southern-based central governments last year. But Niger's government has refused to talk to the rebels, dismissing them as bandits and smugglers, until they disarm.

Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) leader Aghaly ag Alambo said he was also speaking for Tuareg rebels in neighbouring Mali that they would disarm too as part of peace talks.

"Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, Malian leader and I are at your disposal. We consider Libya alone can resolve rebellions in Mali and Niger," Mr Alambo said, adding Mr Bahanga was unable to attend peace talks.

Mr Gaddafi urged an end to revolts in Mali and Niger, saying more war would hurt the impoverished states and plunge a region unsettled by security and smuggling problems into turmoil.

"Why destroy the people who are with us? This is not imperialism or a foreign invasion. If there was a benefit and a need to carry arms, I will be the first to arm you, train and fight along with you," Mr Gaddafi said in a broadcast on state television and Libya's Jana news agency.

He said Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Chad, Libya and Algeria, where Tuaregs live, are Muslim states representing the Islamic weight of Africa, appealing to member states not to destroy the region.

Mr Alambo has previously demanded up to 30 percent of uranium revenue be allocated to Niger's mainly Tuareg north, where French state-controlled nuclear group Areva mines the metal.

Tuareg are nomadic people living in the Sahara and Sahel regions of North Africa and have been engaged in sporadic armed struggles for several decades, but analysts are divided over whether Tuareg revolts have been driven by genuine political grievances or efforts to defend control of drugs, arms and migrant-smuggling routes.

The last Libyan-brokered ceasefire between Mali government and rebels, in April, was quickly followed by some of the bloodiest fighting, but subsequent ceasefire brokered in July by Libya's regional rival Algeria has had more success.

Malian Tuareg rebels meanwhile handed over 21 captives to authorities 17 August in what they called a gesture of good faith. The released soldiers join five others turned over to government since the end of peace talks in Algeria on 21 July.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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