ALGIERS, Algeria—The government of Mali and ethnic Tuareg rebels have reached a truce agreement in dangerous northern Mali, Algeria's ambassador to the West African country said Monday.
The two sides also agreed to establish a 200-member follow-up committee representing the government and the rebels to ensure that the decisions take hold, he said.
"We have reached a series of decisions, among them the need to end hostilities between the two parties in the conflict" and ensure that they are applied, Ambassador Abdelkrim Ghrieb told reporters after a fourth day of talks.
Representatives of Mali's government and the Tuareg rebels arrived in the Algerian capital Thursday in a fresh bid to end violence in northern Mali. Neighboring Algeria has served as facilitator in the talks.
Gen. Kafougouna Kone, Mali's minister for territorial administration, and Mohamed Aghrib of the Tuareg's Democratic Alliance stood next to Ghrieb as he spoke. The rebels want more help for the Tuaregs, an ethnic minority semi-nomadic tribe living in several West African nations as well as in southern Algeria.
Ghrieb said an accord was also reached on the issues of prisoners and refugees, a fallout from the sporadic conflict that recently reached a new peak. Details were not immediately available.
The northern sector of the West African nation has been roiled by the conflict between rebels and the government. Smugglers also operate in the region and the Islamic insurgents active in Algeria known as al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa have crossed the border.
Two police officers were wounded last week in an attack by rebel Tuaregs on a military base.
In early June, government officials in Mali said that at least 20 Tuaregs had been killed in clashes with the army in a single week after fighting erupted June 2 in the northwest desert region of Kidal.
In March, rebels took some 30 soldiers hostage following an attack in Kidal, military officials said at the time.
The March hostage-taking came two weeks after rebels freed 22 hostages, the last of a group of about 40 held since August 2007. Libya mediated the deal.
The agreement announced Friday was the latest in a string of accords. Mali had signed a peace deal with the Tuaregs in July 2006 after the conflicte reignited following years of peace in the wake of a 1990s rebellion. However, one faction of the Tuareg group refused to sign the deal, saying it did not do enough to help the Tuaregs.
