Mali's Tuareg-led rebels to sign peace deal on 20 June

The head of Mali's main Tuareg-led rebel groups has said that his movement will sign a final peace deal on 20 June to end the conflict in the west African nation.

The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) headed by Bilal Ag Acherif initialled a peace agreement with the Malian government on 14 May but held out on a final deal until amendments were made.

"We will sign the peace accord on 20 June," Acherif said following talks in Algiers on security issues. The ceremony is expected to take place in Bamako. The CMA also signed two key documents aimed at removing hurdles that have delayed a final agreement and at cementing a ceasefire in the north of the country. "We pledge to respect what we have signed," Acherif said.

Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said the signing of the documents was "an extra step in the exclusive interest of peace". His French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, welcomed "the spirit of reconciliation and compromise shown by all the parties" in Mali's conflict and thanked Algeria for its mediation.

The UN envoy for Mali, Mongi Hamdi, welcomed the CMA's announcement that it will sign the final peace deal, but cautioned that the hardest part was still to come. "The most difficult phase will be to implement" the agreement, he told reporters.

The Malian government and several armed groups signed an "Algiers Accord" on 15 May in Bamako, in a ceremony spurned by the CMA. That deal aims to bring stability to northern Mali, cradle of several Tuareg uprisings since the 1960s and a stronghold of jihadists linked to al-Qaida.    (AFP)

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