Tuareg rebels in Kidal say military and intelligence operatives were among those picked up.

Relations between the Malian government and the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, MNLA, rebels who control the northwestern town of Kidal continue to deteriorate as the militants on Sunday, June 2, 2013, announced the arrest of several spies thought to be working for the military.

Radio France Internationale, RFI cited the rebels as saying among those arrested were Malian soldiers and people with links to the country’s intelligence services. A spokesman for the Tuareg independence movement, Mossa Ag Attaher, said the arrested people will be treated as prisoners while those with no links to intelligence agencies will be freed.

Meanwhile, black residents of Kidal have accused the MNLA of recently attacking and expelling some of them from the mainly Tuareg-inhabited town to Gao further south, the AFP news agency reported. But the rebels reject the accusations, saying they were only searching for army infiltrators. According to L'Indépendant newspaper, the attitude of French troops in northern Mali in tolerating the occupation of Kidal by Tuareg rebels is increasingly drawing the ire of local people. The rebels are opposed to the restoration of State authority in the town.

Asked about the untenable situation in a recent interview with RFI, France 24 and TV5 television channels, French President, François Hollande promised that there would be no complacency towards MNLA. He however admitted that France recognised the reality on the ground and was doing everything to avoid any clash between ethnic nationalities in Kidal.

Without minimising the situation in Kidal, President Hollande promised French support in ensuring that elections take place all over Mali on July 28, 2013. He pledged support for the return of local administrative officials and the military to the locality in time for the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary polls.