Mali Peace Deal

The United Nations Security Council on Monday threatened to blacklist anyone who hinders a peace deal in Mali reached by an alliance of Tuareg-led rebels and the government, and authorized the deployment of 40 military ceasefire monitors.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance prepared today to sign a landmark deal to end years of unrest in a nation riven by ethnic divisions and in the grip of a jihadist insurgency.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance will Thursday initial a peace accord that was drawn up with the government to bring stability to the conflict-hit west African nation, Algerian mediators and the rebels said.

Tuareg-led rebels from north Mali said on Thursday they are meeting with Algerian mediators in Algiers to discuss the terms of preliminary peace deal they rejected last month.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebels called Monday for a meeting with Algerian mediators to "improve" a proposed peace deal with the government in Bamako, describing the accord as a "good basis" for progress.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebels met today in the northeast of the country to decide whether to sign a peace deal already accepted by the government and smaller armed groups, a participant told AFP.

The Bamako government and armed groups from northern Mali were to launch tough negotiations in Algiers Wednesday for an elusive peace deal, with parts of the country still mired in conflict.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday threatened to blacklist anyone who hinders a peace deal in Mali reached by an alliance of Tuareg-led rebels and the government, and authorized the deployment of 40 military ceasefire monitors.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance prepared today to sign a landmark deal to end years of unrest in a nation riven by ethnic divisions and in the grip of a jihadist insurgency.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebel alliance will Thursday initial a peace accord that was drawn up with the government to bring stability to the conflict-hit west African nation, Algerian mediators and the rebels said.

Tuareg-led rebels from north Mali said on Thursday they are meeting with Algerian mediators in Algiers to discuss the terms of preliminary peace deal they rejected last month.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebels called Monday for a meeting with Algerian mediators to "improve" a proposed peace deal with the government in Bamako, describing the accord as a "good basis" for progress.

Mali's Tuareg-led rebels met today in the northeast of the country to decide whether to sign a peace deal already accepted by the government and smaller armed groups, a participant told AFP.

The Bamako government and armed groups from northern Mali were to launch tough negotiations in Algiers Wednesday for an elusive peace deal, with parts of the country still mired in conflict.