Leaders of Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine, both occupying parts of northern Mali, are holding talks to outline their relationship.
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"The
leaders of AQIM and Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) began meeting on
Thursday in Timbuktu to talk about their future relationship," a leader
of the Islamic High Council in the city said.
Ansar Dine spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama confirmed the meeting was taking place, without giving details.
"They have begun the meeting in the Timbuktu military camp, they are all there," a Malian security source said.
AQIM
heavyweights Abou Zeid and Moktar Ben Moctar, as well as Algerian Nabil
Makloufi who coordinates the groups' actions in the Sahel "katiba" or
fighting cells, were all at the meeting, according to corroborating
sources.
Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghaly was also present.
The
fighters from both groups have been dominant in the north of Mali after
seizing its main cities in the days following a coup in Bamako on March
22. Tuareg separatist rebels and other criminal groups also have a hold
in the area.
Ansar Dine has set about imposing Islamic law, Sharia, in the areas under its control.
On
Thursday AQIM chief Abu Musab Abdul Wadud advised his militants to
proceed slowly with the implementation of Sharia for the successful
creation of an Islamic State.
The north African branch
of the terrorist network has its roots in Algeria, and has notably been
involved in the kidnapping of westerners for ransom in recent years,
several of whom have been killed.
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