Beitrag vom 02.04.2012

BBC News

Mali crisis: Who's who?

Mali is in the grip of an unprecedented political crisis, one of the most serious since the landlocked West African country gained independence from France in 1960.

Mali's Tuareg rebels are now in control of the north of the country - one of the poorest in the world, while its neighbours have threatened to impose an economic blockade after last month's coup.

The army seized power, accusing the elected government of being soft on the rebels but while the military was distracted, the rebels have made rapid advances.

Here is a guide to some of the main players in Mali.

Mali's ousted president

Amadou Toumani Toure - the army general widely credited with rescuing Mali from military dictatorship and establishing democracy in Mali - was deposed as president by a coup in March.

Known as ATT, he was due to step aside this month.

Mr Toure himself first came to power in a coup in 1991 - overthrowing military ruler Moussa Traore when security forces killed more than 100 pro-democracy demonstrators.

He handed power back to civilian rule the following year - gaining respect and the nickname "soldier of democracy".

He went on to win presidential elections in May 2002, and was re-elected in 2007.

Born in 1948, ATT has no official party - and has always sought the backing of as many political groupings as possible.

The ousted president is free and still in Mali, probably in or around the capital Bamako.

The coup leader

The 21 March coup seems to have been spontaneous, arising out of a mutiny that erupted at the Kati military camp located about 10km (6 miles) from the presidential palace in Bamako.

It was led by a mid-ranking army officer Capt Amadou Sanogo, one of the few officers who did not flee the Kati camp when the rank-and-file soldiers began rioting and then headed for the seat of government.

Capt Sanogo, who is in his late 30s, is from Segou, Mali's second largest town some 240km (150 miles) north of Bamako, where his father worked as a nurse at Segou's medical centre.

Journalist Martin Vogl in Bamako describes the army officer as a forceful, confident and charismatic man, friendly but with a slightly abrupt manner.

In the army all his professional life, Capt Sanogo received some of his military training in the US - including intelligence training.

The Tuareg rebels

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and Islamist Ansar Dine are the two major Tuareg groups involved in the takeover of the north of Mali.

Other small groups also say they have taken part in the fighting.

Despite having very different aims, MNLA and Ansar Dine have joined forces to fight together from time to time, including in the capture of Timbuktu - but there are serious tensions between them, Martin Vogl says.

The MNLA grouping wants independence for the Tuareg's northern homeland, which it calls Azawad.

A statement released by the MNLA said that now they are in control of the north they will stop fighting and begin their "mission of defending and securing the territory of the Azawad, for the happiness of its people".

Two important figures in the MNLA are the general secretary Bila Ag Cherif and Mohamed Ag Najim, the head of the movement's military wing.

In the ranks of the MNLA are Malian Tuareg who, while in exile in Libya, fought alongside Col Gaddafi's forces as he tried to cling to power in Libya.

Once he was toppled, they returned to Mali - well-trained and with plenty of heavy weaponry.

The other major Tuareg group is the Islamist Ansar Dine led by a renowned former Tuareg rebel leader, Iyad Ag Ghali.

The group has ties to Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

Ansar Dine says it has not been fighting for independence - it wants to remain part of Mali but wants to introduce Sharia across the whole country, which is largely Muslim.