Timeline Mali
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The Wodaabe nomads number about 40-50,000 and move
constantly across
the Sahel between Niger, Mali and Northern Nigeria. They are of
Fulani
origin, a race scattered all over West Africa.
(SFEM, 10/11/98, p.40)
Mali is larger than California and Texas.
(WSJ, 6/22/04, p.A1)(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
1000-1100
The desert village of Araouane, 161 miles north of Timbuktu, was
first mentioned about this time. It was a wealthy settlement that
flourished off the caravans and drew water from 150-foot wells.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.84)
c1100 Timbuktu was founded
about this time as a seasonal Tuareg nomad camp around a well that
was maintained by a group of slaves under an old woman, Buktu, "the
place of Buktu." Tuareg is a derisive Arab term meaning abandoned by
the gods. Natives prefer to be know as Kel Tamashek people.
(AM, 11/00, p.51)(SSFC, 4/11/04, p.D6)(SFC,
10/30/04, p.E1)
1200-1400 Timbuktu, a major trading center in the
Malian Empire, reached a population of some 100,000 during this
period.
(WSJ, 2/1/06, p.D12)
1235 The king of Mali,
Sundiata, defeated Sumanguru at the battle of Kirina. From then on
Mali replaced Ghana as the major power in West Africa. Sundiata
established his capital at Niana on the upper Niger.
(ATC, p.113,118)
1307 Mansa Musa (d.1337),
Mali’s greatest ruler, succeeded to the throne. He commissioned
grand mosques.
(ATC, p.119)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
1324-1325 Mansa Musa (Kankan Moussa), king of
Mali, made the 3,500 mile pilgrimage to Mecca with gold valued at
$115 million in 1999 prices. He traveled with a very large retinue
that included 80 camels and 500 slaves. An Arab chronicler said he
was surrounded by over 10,000 of his subjects.
(ATC, p.119)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)(SSFC, 4/11/04,
p.D6)
1332 Mansa Musa, King of Mali,
died. His successors were not able to protect Mali’s vast territory
and Berber nomads began attacking caravan routes in the desert and
threatened to take Timbuktu. People from the southern rain forests
attacked the southern boundary and to the west the Songhai of the
middle Niger River began to revolt.
(ATC, p.120)
1353 Ibn Battuta spent a few
months in Mali and left a full description of his experiences.
(Enc. of Africa, 1976, p.170)
1400 Mali (Africa) was under
attack from all four sides and gradually weakened in power.
(ATC, p.120)
1435 A Songhai prince, Sunni
Ali, declares Gao’s independence. Aided by Songhai warriors, he
successfully fought off Mali’s attempt to regain the city.
(ATC, p.)
1590 Apr 25, The Sultan of
Morocco launched his successful attack to capture Timbuktu. Morocco
sent 4,000 soldiers under the Muslim Spaniard Judar Pasha to conquer
Songhai. After a five month journey across the Shara, Pasha arrived
with only 1,000 men, but his soldiers carried guns. The 25,000 men
of the Songhai were no match for the guns and Gao, Timbuktu and most
of Songhai fall.
(ATC, p.122)(HN, 4/25/98)
1591 Moroccan invaders sacked
Timbuktu (Mali).
(AM, 7/04, p.36)
1796 Jul, Mungo Park, Scottish
surgeon, reached the Niger River at Segou, (Mali). Mansong, the
African chief at Segou, gave Park enough money to return to the
coast. Park described his journey in his book: "Travels in the
Interior Districts of Africa."
(ON, 7/00, p.10)
1805 Jan 31, Mungo Park set
sail from Portsmouth to Africa where he planned to navigate the
Niger River to its mouth.
(ON, 7/00, p.10)
1805 Aug 9, Mungo Park reached
the town of Bamako after losing 25 of his 35 soldiers.
(ON, 7/00, p.11)
1805 Sep 27, Mungo Park reached
the town of Sansanding with 11,000 inhabitants, where he planned to
build boats to journey down the Niger.
(ON, 7/00, p.12)
1805 Oct 28, Alexander
Anderson, the brother of Mungo Park’s wife, died of fever at
Sansanding.
(ON, 7/00, p.12)
1805 Nov 20, Mungo Park
departed Sansanding with 4 remaining soldiers , 3 slaves and a new
guide.
(ON, 7/00, p.12)
1806 cFeb, Mungo Park drowned
in the Niger River during an attack by armed men near Bussa. He had
traveled some 1500 miles down the Niger River.
(ON, 7/00, p.12)
1815 The merchant ship
Commerce, under Capt. James Riley (d.1840) of Connecticut, wrecked
off the northwest coast of Africa. He survived captivity under
Muslim slave traders and endured a lengthy trek across the Sahara.
He later authored "An authentic Narrative of the Loss of the
American Brig Commerce." In 2004 Dean King authored "Skeletons on
the Zahara: A True Story of Survival."
(SSFC, 2/22/04, p.M1)
1816 Robert Adams, the 1st
Westerner to reach Timbuktu, transcribed an account of his
experiences there as an enslaved American sailor.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.126)
1825 Jul 16, Alexander Gordon
Laing (32), British Army Major, set off on camel from Tripoli in an
attempt to become the 1st European to cross the Sahara Desert and
reach the fabled city of Timbuktu (Mali).
(SSFC, 1/1/06, p.M2)(ON, 11/06, p.5)
1826 Aug 13, Major Gordon
Laing, Scottish explorer, became the 1st European to enter Timbuktu
(Mali), where some 12,000 people lived. Laing was killed by a Tuareg
nomad spear on Sep 26 as he headed for Morocco. In 2005 Frank T.
Kryza authored “The Race for Timbuktu: In Search of Africa’s City of
Gold.”
(SSFC, 4/11/04, p.D6)(SSFC, 1/1/06, p.M2)(Econ,
1/7/06, p.75)(ON, 11/06, p.6)
1828 Rene Auguste Caillie of
France reached Timbuktu disguised as a Muslim trader. In 1830 he
published an account of his journey.
(SSFC, 4/11/04, p.D6)(ON, 11/06, p.7)
1830 Richard Lander, British
explorer, completed Mungo Park’s journey down the Niger from Bussa
to the mouth of the river in 5 months.
(ON, 7/00, p.12)
1880 The city of Timbuktu,
later part of Mali, became part of the French colony of Upper
Senegal.
(ON, 11/06, p.7)
1894 In Mali Touareg nomads
first rebelled against the French and were bloodily suppresed.
(Econ, 1/20/07, p.58)
c1929 Seydou Keida [Keita],
photographer, was born. He ran a successful studio from his home
city of Bamako from 1945-1977. He later achieved int’l. acclaim. A
book of his work was published in 1997 edited by Andre Magnin:
"Seydou Keita." Keita died Nov 22, 2001 in Paris.
(SFC, 3/8/96, p.E1)(SFEC, 7/27/97, BR p.6)(WSJ,
12/4/97, p.A20)
1932 In Mali French colonial
authorities planned a 2.47 million acre irrigation project to grow
cotton and rice and to develop hydropower in the Mali desert. By
1982 only 6% of the region was developed. The World Bank took over
in 1985 with some success in farming rice.
(SFC, 12/21/07, p.A31)
1946 France granted Malians
French citizenship and limited self-rule.
(www.angelfire.com/ri/georgev/bg8.html)
1950s In the 1950s when the
French gave independence to their West African colonies, the Touareg
people and their ancestral lands were parceled out among the newly
created nations of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Chad.
(www.jacneed.com/10Tinariwen.htm)
1959 With French support the
French Sudan and Senegal formed the Federation of Mali.
(www.angelfire.com/ri/georgev/bg8.html)
1960 Jun 20, The Federation of
Mali became independent.
(www.angelfire.com/ri/georgev/bg8.html)
1960 Aug 20, Senegal broke from
Mali federation and declared independence.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1960 Sep 22, Mali became an
independent republic. Pres. Modibo Keita was elected the first
president and introduced a one-party dictatorship.
(www.angelfire.com/ri/georgev/bg8.html)
1968 Nov 19, Gen'l. Moussa
Traore (b.1936) began serving as the 2nd president of Mali after
leading the military ouster of Pres. Modibo Keita (1915-1977. Traore
then ruled for 23 years.
(SFC, 9/23/99,
p.A12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussa_Traor%C3%A9)
1968 Dec 6, The original Malian
constitution was abrogated after a military coup d'etat and replaced
by a new fundamental law.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Mali)
1968-1973 A severe famine hit the Sahel region of
North Africa. Mauritania, Mali, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) and Niger
were most affected.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.57)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone,
and Togo.
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1977 May 16, In Mali former
Pres. Modibo Keita (1915-1977) died in prison. His reputation was
rehabilitated in 1992 following the overthrow of Moussa Traore and
subsequent the election of president Alpha Oumar Konare. A monument
for Modibo Keita, was dedicated in Bamako on June 6, 1999.
(WUD, 1994,
p.1687)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modibo_Ke%C3%AFta)
1979 Jun 19, In Mali
presidential and general elections were held. Moussa Traore was
elected President and Mady Sangare was elected as Speaker of the
National Assembly.
(www.etat.sciencespobordeaux.fr/_anglais/chronologie/mali.html)
1980 Colonel Muammar Khaddafi
of Libya recruited the nationless, disenfranchised nomads by
implying that he would train the Kel Tamashek and provide weapons to
fight for their independence from the Malian government. The rebels
slowly realized that Khadaffi's only intention was to use them in
his own wars. Some of these dejected fighters formed the band
Tinariwen in Khadaffi's rebel camp.
(www.jacneed.com/10Tinariwen.htm)
1982 The founding members of
Tinariwen came together as a band, whilst they were in exile in
Libya. They were deeply involved in the Touareg’s armed struggle.
(www.french-music.org/scr_artist.php?artist_id=21907)
1985 The town of Sanankoroba
established a sister-town relationship with Sainte-Elizabeth,
Quebec.
(SFC, 2/27/98, p.D2)
1990 The "Second Tuareg
Rebellion" broke out, a struggle to liberate a region in the north
from the Malian government.
(http://sonomu.net/person/~stephenfruitman/texts/?page=2)
1991 Mar, Mali became a
democracy after a Revolution. Gen. Amadou Toumani Toure seized power
in a coup. Prior to the period of French colonialism, each of 12
ethnic groups governed itself.
(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A12)(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
1992 Gen. Amadou Toumani Toure
introduced multi-party democracy in Mali.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
1993 Gen'l. Moussa Traore was
condemned to death for ordering the killing of over 100
demonstrators, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison. He
was again condemned to death in 1999 for misappropriating public
funds, but his sentence was again commuted to life in prison.
(SFC, 9/23/99, p.A12)
1994-2004 Gold production in Mali grew from 6.3
million tons to 39.3 million tons.
(SFC, 9/22/05, p.A14)
c1995 In Mali a Swiss
development worker invented a low-cost machine for milling and
grinding. By 2002 the $4,000 machine was in some 300 villages and
benefited numerous women who had previously hours pounding and
grinding grains for daily meals.
(WSJ, 7/26/02, p.A1)
1995 Prof. Pamela Ronald and
colleagues isolated the blight-resistance gene from a variety of
wild rice cultivated in Mali. The blight was caused by the
Xanthomonas orizae bacterium. She pushed for a got a percentage of
the royalty rights to be used for fellowships for scientists from
Mali.
(SFC, 5/26/97, p.A16)
1996 Jun, The administration of
Pres. Alpha Oumar Konare was privatizing and encouraging investment,
foreign and domestic. The leading radio station in the capital,
Bamako, was owned by Modibo Diallo.
(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A12)
1996 Cheick Oumar Sissoko,
Paris educated and Mali-based writer and director, showed his film
"Guimba the Tyrant" at the SF Int’l. Film Festival.
(SFC, 1/17/96, p.D3)
1996 In Mali “the Flame of
Peace” ceremony, in which thousands of weapons were incinerated,
marked a reconciliation between the Touareg nomads and the
government. The annual “Festival in the Desert” music festival grew
as an outshoot of this. It took place near Essakane, an oasis some
40 miles north-west of Timbuktu.
(Econ, 1/20/07, p.58)
1996 A peace accord in Mali
allowed Kel Tamashek people to integrate into Malian society.
(SFC, 10/30/04, p.E5)
1997 Aug, From Chad a plague of
locusts began to spread across the country with as many as 200
locusts per square yard.
(SFC, 9/27/97, p.A21)
1998 Jun 26, In the Ivory Coast
Alioune Blondin Beye, a diplomat from Mali, crashed in a small plane
near Abidjan. He had just met with Togo Pres. Gnassigbe Eyadema to
support peace talks in Angola. Three other passengers were Koffi
Adjovi of Togo, journalist Moktar Gueye of Senegal, and Baendegar
Dessandre of Chad.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, p.A18)
1998 Nov 11, It was reported
that Pfizer and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation initiated a $66
million effort to attack trachoma, a disease of the eye caused by
chlamydia. A one-gram dose of zithromax given once a year would
treat the disease. Focus was to be on Ghana, Mali, Morocco, Tanzania
and Vietnam.
(SFC, 11/11/98, p.D6)
1999 Jan 4, In Sierra Leone
Nigerian troops repelled a rebel attack on Freetown's airport.
Gambia and Mali agreed to send troops to join the Nigerian forces.
(WSJ, 1/5/99, p.A1)
2000 Oct, In southern Mali the
Morila gold mine opened near Sanso. By 2005 it had generated nearly
$180 million in profits. Randgold Resources and Anglo-Gold Ashanti
of South Africa divided an 80% stake and the Mali government owned
the rest. Benefits to local people proved miniscule and after 5
years Sanso still had no electricity and no paved roads.
(SFC, 9/22/05, p.A14)
2001 May 23, US Sec. of State
Colin Powell began his 4-nation African tour in Mali and met with
Pres. Alfa Omar Konare.
(SFC, 5/24/01, p.C2)
2001 Nov 22, Seydou Keida
[Keita], photographer, died in Paris at age 78 or 81. He had run a
successful studio from his home city of Bamako from 1945-1977. He
later achieved int’l. acclaim. A book of his work was published in
1997 edited by Andre Magnin: "Seydou Keita."
(SFC, 3/8/96, p.E1)(SFEC, 7/27/97, BR p.6)(WSJ,
12/4/97, p.A20)(WSJ, 12/7/01, p.A23)
2002 Apr 28, Elections were
held for 24 candidates in the presidential race. A run-off for the
top 2 was set for May 12.
(SFC, 5/3/02, p.A10)
2002 May 12, In Mali runoff
elections were held. Retired Gen. Amadou Toure won 68% of the vote.
The coalition candidate Siumaila Cisse, a wealthy former finance
minister, conceded with 32%.
(SFC, 5/16/02, p.A8)
2002 Jun 8, In Mali former
junta leader Amadou Toumani Toure was sworn in for a five-year term
as the new democratically elected president.
(AP, 6/9/02)
2002 Aug 10, In Mali a
Constitutional Court reversed the outcome of last month's
parliamentary elections, giving an opposition alliance a comfortable
lead.
(AP, 8/10/02)
2003 Jan 8, In Mali the 3rd
annual Festival of the Desert ended in Essakane.
(SFC, 1/11/03, p.D1)
2003 Aug 18, A six-month ordeal
for 14 European tourists kidnapped by Islamic extremists while on
desert safaris in Algeria has ended with their release to officials
in neighboring Mali.
(AP, 8/19/03)
2003 Sep 8, In Mali
authorities said torrential rains have killed scores and caused
heavy property damage, warning of worse to come if the Niger River
spills its banks.
(AP, 9/8/03)
2003 Anthony Sattin authored
"The Gates of Africa: Death, Discovery and the Search for Timbuktu.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.126)
2004 Aug 6, Mali said swarms of
locusts had spread across most of its vast arid territory. The
swarms were moving across the Sahara desert toward countries
including Senegal, Niger, Chad and Gambia
(AP, 8/6/04)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French
speaking African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying
currency with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau,
Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn
in old bills for new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 US Special Forces began
training local troops in Mauritania and Mali under a program called
the Pan-Sahel Initiative. The program was renamed the Trans-Sahara
Counter-Terrorism Initiative and taken over by Marines, who extended
the training to Chad and Niger.
(SFC, 10/2/04, p.A8)
2004 Mali’s population numbered
11-12 million people.
(WSJ, 6/22/04, p.A1)(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
2005 Jun, The Trans-Sahara
Counter-Terrorism Initiative began operations. The US funded plan
intended to provide military equipment and development aid to 9
north-east African countries considered fertile ground for Muslim
militant groups. Participating countries included Algeria, Chad,
Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia.
(SFC, 12/27/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul, Mali officials
estimated that 4 million people faced starvation in Mali and Niger,
due to drought and locusts from the previous year. 10% of the Mali’s
population faced starvation.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)
2005 Dec 2, African leaders and
French President Jacques Chirac converged on Mali for a two-day
summit expected to focus on Africa's conflict hotspots, immigration
and the problems of African youth.
(AFP, 12/02/05)
2005 Dec 4, In Mali at a
weekend Franco-African summit President Jacques Chirac called upon
the US to remove the subsidies to their cotton producers. Chirac
also urged rich countries to double development aid, as African
leaders warned tackling poverty was crucial to stem a growing tide
of illegal immigration.
(AP, 12/05/05)
2006 Jan 14, In Bamako, Mali,
China unveiled plans to boost its ties with Africa, outlining a new
relationship with the continent based on a "win-win" concept of
economic and military cooperation.
(AFP, 1/15/06)
2006 Jan 23, In Mali a closing
ceremony was held for a gathering of the World Social Forum. Other
gatherings were set for Pakistan and Venezuela. The first World
Social Forum was held in Brazil in 2001 and coincides each year with
the market-friendly World Economic Forum of political and business
leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
(AP, 1/24/06)(SFC, 1/24/06, p.A2)
2006 Mar 7, Ali Farka Toure
(b.1939), a traditional African musician who won two Grammy Awards,
died in his home in Bamako, Mali, after a long illness.
(AP, 3/7/06)
2006 Nov 13, The US signed a
461 million dollar aid "compact" with Mali to finance a giant
irrigation project and expand the international airport in the
poverty-stricken African nation.
(AP, 11/13/06)
2006 Dec 6, A conference on
bird flu opened in Mali. Experts were increasingly concerned for
Africa as an international conference heard that Egypt, Nigeria, and
Sudan continued to record outbreaks of the deadly disease.
(AFP, 12/6/06)
2007 Apr 28, The 1st round of
the Mali presidential election garnered a turnout of around 36%.
Incumbent President Amadou Toumani Toure (59), one of 8 candidates,
was widely expected to win a second term. General Amadou Toumani
Toure and Soumaila Cisse, candidate for the ruling party Adema,
faced each other for the 2nd round.
(AFP,
5/6/07)(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1982814.stm)
2007 May 5, The 12 million
people of Mali earned on average less than $400 a year.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.62)
2007 Jun 29, Laura Bush wrapped
up a tour of Africa by visiting a school and sitting in on a math
class in Mali, saying she was impressed by education efforts in the
country.
(AP, 6/29/07)
2007 Jul 7, Mali’s
decentralized government numbered 702 local communes as opposed to
18 in 1991.
(Econ, 7/7/07, p.28)
2007 Aug 30, A transport
vehicle hit a land mine in tense northern Mali, killing 10 people.
(AP, 8/31/07)
2007 Aug, In Mali Ag Bahanga
took up arms and kidnapped 36 soldiers, in spite of a peace pact
signed in neighboring Algeria in July 2006. The last 22 of those
troops were released on March 8, 2008, following intervention by
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.
(AFP, 3/23/08)
2008 Mar 20, In Mali clashes
began around Tinzaouatene, near the Algerian border, as insurgents
attacked soldiers clearing mines in what the rebels feared was a
prelude to a government offensive. 3 soldiers were killed when their
vehicle was blown up by a mine and four captured in combat by the
rebels.
(AFP, 3/23/08)
2008 Mar 21, In Mali 5
civilians, including a child, were reported killed, again when their
vehicle hit a mine near Tinzaouatene. 29 soldiers were taken
prisoner when a convoy of wounded soldiers heading for Kidal was
intercepted by rebels.
(AFP, 3/23/08)
2008 May 3, Insurgents attacked
an army convoy in northern Mali, violating a cease-fire and sparking
a fire fight that left five people dead.
(AP, 5/3/08)
2008 May 6, In northern and
central Mali attacks by Tuareg rebels on several army posts left one
person dead.
(AFP, 5/6/08)
2008 May 21, In northern Mali
27 people were killed, including 10 soldiers, following an insurgent
attack on an army base. Ethnic Tuareg rebels active in the area
claimed responsibility for the attack. They said only one of their
fighters died in the skirmish and that they had taken some 60
soldiers hostages.
(AP, 5/22/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Algeria the
government of Mali and ethnic Tuareg rebels reached a truce
agreement in dangerous northern Mali. One faction of the Tuareg
group refused to sign the deal, saying it did not do enough to help
the Tuaregs.
(AP, 7/22/08)
2008 Dec 14, On the Niger-Mali
border Tuareg rebels of the Front for the Forces of Redress (FFR)
kidnapped Robert Fowler, a Canadian UN special envoy, and Louis
Guay, a Canadian diplomat, along with their local driver. Days later
the FFR made contradictory statements both claiming and condemning
responsibility. On March, 2009, rebels released the driver. The
Canadian diplomats were released in April, 2009.
(AP, 12/16/08)(http://tinyurl.com/djsmd7)(AP,
4/23/09)
2008 Dec 20, In Mali suspected
Tuareg rebels attacked an army outpost in the country's remote
north, setting off a battle in which 20 people were killed.
(AP, 12/21/08)
2009 Jan, Four tourists, two
Swiss, a German and a Briton, were kidnapped on the Mali-Niger
border. They were transferred to Al-Qaida's North Africa branch,
which asked for a ransom and the release of a radical Islamist
preacher held in Britain. A Swiss and a German tourist were released
in April. Edwin Dyer of Britain, was killed by his captors on May
31. The 2nd Swiss citizen, Werner Greiner, was released in July.
(AP, 4/23/09)(AP, 7/12/09)
2009 Feb 12, China's President
Hu Jintao arrived in Mali at the start of a four-country African
tour which Beijing insists is about strengthening cooperation and
not solely for economic gain.
(AP, 2/12/09)
2009 Feb 27, The UN Children's
Fund said 53 million children are being targeted by a mass
immunization drive against polio in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory
Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo. Some 844 polio cases were
reported in the 8 countries in 2008, 95% of them in Nigeria.
(AFP, 2/27/09)
2009 May 31, In Mali it was
believed that Al-Qaida terrorists killed British hostage Edwin Dyer.
The fate of a Swiss hostage taken at the same time was unknown. Dyer
was abducted in January and his captors had threatened to kill him
by the end of May if Britain refused to release extremist preacher
Abu Qatada from prison.
(AP, 6/3/09)
2009 Jul 4, In Mali dozens of
people were killed during clashes in the Timbuktu region between the
army and Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) fighters.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 17, The Malian army
announced that it had killed 26 "Islamist fighters" in the far north
of the country.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 21, Mali's president's
office announced that Spain plans to help Mali fight Al-Qaeda of the
Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is active in the desert north of the
west African nation.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Sep 22, The UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that flash floods
and lighting have claimed 187 lives and affected 635,273 people in
west Africa since the rainy season started in June. This included
103 dead in Sierra Leone, followed by Ghana (24), Mali (20), Ivory
Coast (19), Burkina Faso (8), Niger (7) and Senegal (6).
(AFP, 9/22/09)
2009 Oct 20, The United States
presented Mali security forces with more than $5 million in new
vehicles and other equipment.
(AP, 10/21/09)
2009 Nov 2, In Mali the burned
debris of a Boeing cargo plane was discovered on Nov. 2 in the Gao
region. It was assumed to have landed on a clandestine landing strip
and either failed to take off again or was destroyed on purpose.
Ample traces of cocaine were found on board. Drug smugglers had
flown the plane from Venezuela, unloaded it and torched it. In 2010
it was reported that drug smugglers were buying old jets and
flying them across the Atlantic to feed Europe’s growing coke habit.
(AP, 12/3/09)(SFC, 11/16/10, p.A6)
2009 Nov 25, In Mali gunmen
kidnapped Pierre Camatte, a French national, in the remote east. The
kidnapping was attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Camatte was released on Feb 23, 2010.
(Reuters, 11/26/09)(AFP, 12/1/09)(SFC, 2/24/10,
p.A2)
2009 Nov 29, In Mauritania 3
Spanish volunteers were kidnapped by gunmen. Spain's interior
minister said the next day that he suspected al-Qaida-linked
Islamists were behind the attack. On Dec 2 a Mauritanian official
said the 3 aid workers were being taken by their captors to
neighboring Mali. Aid worker Alicia Gamez (35) was released on March
10, 2010. Businessmen Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta remained
captive. Al-Qaida's offshoot in North Africa said on March 12 that
it had released Gamez because she voluntarily converted to Islam.
Pascual and Vilalta were released in August 2010.
(AP, 11/30/09)(AP, 12/2/09)(AP, 3/10/10)(AP,
3/12/10)(Reuters, 8/23/10)
2010 Feb 25, In Mali at least
15 people died in a stampede in a Timbuktu mosque during services
celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
(AP, 2/26/10)
2010 Apr 21, The Algerian
Defense Ministry said Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger are
opening a joint military headquarters in the Algerian city
Tamanrasset, in a united effort to combat terrorism and kidnapping
in northwestern Africa. The Committee of Joint Chiefs (CEMOC) was
based in Tamanrasset.
(AP, 4/21/10)(AP, 12/20/11)
2010 Jul 9, Aid agency Oxfam
warned that the food crisis gripping the Sahel region of Africa was
reaching disastrous levels and called on governments and the
international community to act now. The crisis stretched across the
region taking in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and northern
Nigeria.
(AFP, 7/9/10)
2010 Jul 24, French-backed
Mauritanian military operations against al Qaeda fighters in the
Sahara desert wound up after four days of hunting Islamists deep
inside Mali.
(AP, 7/24/10)
2010 Aug 23, Two Spanish aid
workers held by al Qaeda's North African wing were freed in Mali,
ending a kidnapping that lasted nearly nine months, the longest
period of captivity in the Sahara desert. Al Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM) said it seized Albert Vilalta and Roque Pascual while
they were traveling through Mauritania with a relief aid convoy last
November.
(AP, 8/23/10)
2010 Sep 17, The Mauritanian
army launched an offensive against the North African branch of
al-Qaida in neighboring Mali. At least 12 militants died and five
Mauritanians were killed in the operation, which was launched
inside northern Mali with permission.
(AP, 9/18/10)
2010 Sep 30, Algerian daily
Al-Watan said spy chiefs from four north African countries (Algeria,
Mauritania, Mali and Niger) have set up a center for joint
operations against Al Qaeda in the Sahel region during a meeting in
Algiers.
(AFP, 9/30/10)
2011 Jan 5, In Mali an
assailant hurled an explosive at France's embassy in Bamako in an
attack that wounded two Malian security guards. The blast appeared
to be small, however, and caused only minor damage to an outer gate
of the building. A Malian later died of injuries sustained in the
attack. On Nov 29 Bachir Simoun (24) of Tunisia was sentenced to
death for the attack.
(AP, 1/6/11)(AP, 11/29/11)
2011 Feb 21, In Mali a stampede
at a football stadium in Bamako killed 35 people. Thousands had
gathered there for a blessing by a well-known Imam.
(SFC, 2/23/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 25, In Ivory Coast
about 1,000 people frantically crowded around buses rented by Mali
to evacuate its citizens, as the UN said up to 1 million have fled
their homes amid fears of civil war.
(AP, 3/25/11)
2011 Jun 24, In northeast Mali
a raid by the Mauritanian army on an Al-Qaeda base left 17 dead,
including two soldiers.
(AFP, 6/27/11)
2011 Jun 26, Mauritanian
aircraft struck an Al-Qaeda base in northeast Mali. 9 suspected
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) fighters were arrested by the
Malian army.
(AFP, 6/28/11)
2011 Jul 5, In Mauritania
al-Qaida militants attacked a military base in the town of Bassiknou
and then fled towards Mali. On July 7 the army said 6 militants were
killed with no casualties on the Mauritanian side. The militants
said that they had killed 20 soldiers in an ambush late last month
in the Wagadou region of Mali. Mauritanian officials said 15
militants and two soldiers were killed.
(AP, 7/6/11)(AP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jul 14, Malian security
services said they have arrested two men identified as supporters of
Al-Qaeda's north African branch in the northwestern Timbuktu region.
(AFP, 7/14/11)
2011 Aug 26, Mali's most
radical Tuareg rebel chief Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, who never agreed to
disarm, died in an accident.
(AFP, 8/27/11)
2011 Aug 28, Security sources
said hundreds of armed Tuaregs from Mali and Niger who fought for
toppled Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi have started to return to their
home nations.
(AFP, 8/28/11)
2011 Sep 12, A Mali government
source said that 4 people were killed in the desert between Mali and
Algeria in a clash between the rival gangs, who did not agree on how
to share the spoils from ferrying a ton of cocaine and hashish
through the desert.
(AFP, 9/14/11)
2011 Oct 20, Mauritania's army
conducted an air raid to prevent a planned attack by al-Qaida-linked
insurgents in a forest just across the border in Mali, where the
group has a cell.
(AP, 10/20/11)
2011 Oct 26, Abdullah
al-Senoussi, Moammar Gadhafi's former intelligence chief, entered
Mali late at night, after making his way across Niger where he has
been hiding for several days in the country's northern desert.
Gadhafi's hunted son, Seif al-Islam, was also reported on his way to
Mali, traveling across the invisible line separating Algeria from
Niger.
(AP, 10/27/11)
2011 Nov 12, Nigeria evacuated
from Mali 104 of its citizens, mostly women, either made to work as
"sexual slaves" or suspected of involvement in human trafficking.
(AFP, 11/15/11)
2011 Nov 18, The European
Commission said an extra 10 million euros ($13.5 million) in
humanitarian funding will go on addressing "major shortfalls" in
food in the Sahel region. The crisis is affecting 7 million people
in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria.
(AFP, 11/19/11)
2011 Nov 21, In Mali army
chiefs from Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, met in Bamako amid
mounting concerns over the fallout from Libya's conflict on security
in the troubled zone.
(AFP, 11/21/11)
2011 Nov 24, In Mali a gang
kidnapped two French geologists at gunpoint from their hotel in the
eastern desert village of Hombori.
(AFP, 11/24/11)
2011 Nov 30, In Mali hundreds
of people took to the streets of Bamako to demand that a referendum
on proposed changes to the constitution be shelved. The changes,
first announced in December 2009, include the creation of a Senate
as a second house of parliament and will give the president the
power to "define the nation's policy" as opposed to the prime
minister.
(AFP, 11/30/11)
2011 Dec 6, Human Rights Watch
said in a report that between 20,000 and 40,000 children work in
artisanal gold mines in Mali, Africa's third-largest producer of the
precious metal.
(AFP, 12/6/11)
2011 Dec 8, The UN's World Food
Program said meager rains and diminished harvests have left between
five and seven million people in Africa's Sahel region facing food
shortages. The countries of Niger, Mauritania, Mali and Chad were
worst hit.
(AFP, 12/9/11)
2011 Dec 8, In Mali 4 people
were arrested over the Nov 24 kidnapping of two French citizens. The
suspects were reportedly "subcontracted" to an al-Qaida group and
appear to be Malian.
(AP, 12/12/11)(AFP, 12/12/11)
2011 Dec 20, Algerian troops
were reported to have crossed into Mali to help government forces
combat groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda.
(AFP, 12/20/11)
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