Algeria had played a similar role in the negotiation of a peace pact between Tuareg rebels and the government of Mali [see pp. 38801-02].

In early 2008, it was the subject of a raid by Tuareg pro-autonomy rebels, in which 11 people, including the mayor, were abducted.

Canadian and other sources floated rumors of Tuareg rebel and even Nigerien government involvement in the kidnappings, which all sides united to deny.

He then returned to Libya, rejecting the peace agreement signed between the Malian government and the Tuareg rebels.

Following Traoré's inauguration, he pledged to "wage a total and relentless war" on the Tuareg rebels unless they released their control of northern Malian cities.

After a break of a decade, Niger again experienced an insurgency by Tuareg rebels in the north in 2007.

A team of Belgians was fired upon by Tuareg rebels in Mali.

The protestors opposed the Tuareg rebels and the partition of Mali.

The Tuareg rebels had been bolstered by an influx of battle-hardened fighters from Libya.

The fifteen nations of West Africa planned a military intervention against the junta and the Tuareg rebels.