Algeria calls on clerics and leaders to help prevent war in Mali

Sheikh Abdulrahman Saedi Clerics, sheikhs and tribal leaders of the Sahel and Azawad region must move and undertake a positive role in preventing war, Sheikh Abdulrahman Saedi said as he represented Algeria in the Forum for Moderation in Sahel and North African Countries. Calling for an end to hostilities, Saedi also pointed out that the losing party in the potential war would be the innocent Tuareg and Azawad people.
“Islamic and historical duty demand that all who enjoy influence or authority among all parties involved in the dispute to move before it is too late,” the Chairman of the Movement for the Society of Peace (Hams) Shura Council said. Speaking at the clerics’ conference, Saedi charged all “sincere believers in the region, especially clerics, tribal leaders and other prominent persons” with the tasks of “staving off dangers, checking wrongs and bringing the blessings of reconciliation and peace to their people,” in accordance with Islamic teachings.
In his statement, Sheikh Saedi’s referred the situation in Sahel and the north of Mali as “tragic” and “dire,” representing “a dangerous slippery slope that threatens a serious, long-term regional war.” He also warned that such a war would “destroy everything in its path, causing the collapse of many states’ sovereignty.” These dangers, he said, require “a decisive stand” by the sectors he spoke of, again stressing the need to prevent a war.
Elaborating on the political situation, al-Saedi said he believed the military intervention, called for by world powers and supported by the Mali government, to be more likely than “the narrow diplomatic path.” Nevertheless, he presented the possibility of “productive multilateral talks” as a way towards “national harmony” in Mali.
Speaking in detail on the role expected of clerics in the region, he listed three areas: delaying military intervention, bringing the separatist Jihadi groups to the dialogue and preventing crisis-creating endeavours and exploitation of the dispute in support of certain political agendas.
Forum for Moderation in Sahel and North African Countries was founded in early 2010 in the Mauritania capital Nouakchott. The forum aims at confronting extremism in the region which had become a stronghold of fundamental Islamist groups, such as al-Qaeda and al-Tawhid wal Jihad.