ALGIERS: Algeria on Friday voiced deep concern after neighboring Mali’s military rulers ended a 2015 peace agreement with separatists.
Militant and separatist revolts have plagued Mali since 2012 and Algeria was the main mediator in the peace deal signed by the government and Tuareg armed groups in Algiers.
However, Mali’s military rulers ended the deal on Thursday, after months of clashes as UN peacekeepers withdrew from the volatile northern region of the country.
The Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement said that the country has taken note, of the ending of the agreement for peace and reconciliation in Mali with deep concern.
Algeria also emphasized the decision’s particular seriousness for Mali itself and for the entire region that needs peace and security.
Mali junta has accused the change in posture of certain signatory groups saying representative offices for some of the signatories had become terrorist actors.
Mali summons Algerian envoy
In December, Mali summoned the Algerian envoy over interference in its internal affairs and unfriendly acts, blaming the diplomat of holding meetings with Tuareg separatists without involving Bamako.
Algeria rejected the Malian accusations on Friday, saying the junta’s justifications for ending the peace deal were far from the truth.
Under the agreement ex-rebels had to be integrated into the Malian defense forces.
The separatist rebels, united under the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), had already blamed the military junta in July 2022 of having abandoned the pact.
