Mali's government and allied fighters signed a peace accord Friday in a ceremony attended by numerous heads-of-state but missing the crucial backing of the war-scarred nation's main Tuareg-led rebel groups, AFP correspondents witnessed. The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) had provisionally initialled the document a day earlier but is demanding concessions and its three principal factions did not attend the rubber-stamping ceremony in the Malian capital Bamako.
The so-called "Algiers Accord" aims to bring stability to the north, the cradle of several Tuareg uprisings since the 1960s, and a stronghold for al Qaeda-linked jihadists which have been regrouping since they were ousted by the French in 2013. It was signed by Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, three representatives of pro-Bamako militias and two minor members of the CMA rebellion, as well as a team of mediators led by Algeria.