Reply #12: Tuareg fighters urged to drop Gaddafi, stay in Libya

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Tuareg fighters urged to drop Gaddafi, stay in Libya
Sun Sep 4, 2011 5:31pm GMT

NIAMEY, Sep 4 (Reuters) - Leaders of the Tuareg people in Niger and Mali are urging countrymen who fought in Muammar Gaddafi's army to stay in Libya and rally to its new rulers rather than head south to their fragile, poverty-stricken homelands.

The return of thousands of armed Tuareg fighters could, they fear, be devastating to a region which has suffered years of rebellions and is now struggling to counter local al Qaeda allies plying the lucrative trade of foreign hostages.

The Tuareg leaders said they won assurances from Libya's interim council early last month that Tuareg members of the regular army would not be targeted, but noted that they and other Africans in Libya still faced the threat of reprisals.

"We do not doubt our partners in (Libya's) National Transitional Council (NTC) or their will to move forward, but war is war ... there are always uncontrollable elements," said Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, a Malian parliament deputy for the northern town of Bourem.

more... http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFL5E7K40KR20110904?sp=true