President Traore has excluded all northern factions, including the Barbiche Arab tribes, from talks on Mali’s future except the Tuareg MNLA, which occupies Kidal. He called for a decentralized government, and said the separatist issue would be addressed after the presidential election in July. The Malian military seeks to retake Kidal. France is backing talks in Burkina Faso between the MNLA and the Malian government to broker an agreement allowing elections to take place in Kidal while preserving the issue of Tuareg autonomy.
