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Mali rebels split over sharia in new state
Source: Reuters
Mali rebels split over sharia in new state
BAMAKO | Tue May 29, 2012 11:40am EDT
(Reuters) - An agreement between northern Mali's MNLA Tuareg rebels and the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group Ansar Dine to create an Islamic state in the Azawad desert has hit trouble over how strictly to impose sharia, Islamic law, MNLA sources said on Tuesday.
The separatist MNLA wants a moderate form of sharia, while Ansar Dine would like to impose a more hardline version, using punishments such as the amputation of hands and heads for certain crimes, the sources said.
The West African group ECOWAS said it rejected the idea of a separate Islamic state in northern Mali, and the new French president urged African leaders to ask the U.N. Security Council to create a framework for restoring stability to the region.
"We want sharia similar to that in Mauritania or even Egypt. This point must be clarified," Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, an MNLA official in the northern city of Gao, told Reuters by telephone.
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BAMAKO | Tue May 29, 2012 11:40am EDT
(Reuters) - An agreement between northern Mali's MNLA Tuareg rebels and the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group Ansar Dine to create an Islamic state in the Azawad desert has hit trouble over how strictly to impose sharia, Islamic law, MNLA sources said on Tuesday.
The separatist MNLA wants a moderate form of sharia, while Ansar Dine would like to impose a more hardline version, using punishments such as the amputation of hands and heads for certain crimes, the sources said.
The West African group ECOWAS said it rejected the idea of a separate Islamic state in northern Mali, and the new French president urged African leaders to ask the U.N. Security Council to create a framework for restoring stability to the region.
"We want sharia similar to that in Mauritania or even Egypt. This point must be clarified," Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, an MNLA official in the northern city of Gao, told Reuters by telephone.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/us-mali-crisis-rebels-idUSBRE84S0WQ20120529
