Leaders of the Coordination of Azawad Movements will either endorse or reject the UN- brokered peace deal.

Leaders of the rebel groups that make up the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) are expected tomorrow, Friday, March 13, 2015 when their Kidal three-day meeting ends,  to decide whether to endorse the UN-brokered peace deal for the country or reject it.  CMA is a coalition of pro-federalist rebel groups that want the autonomy of North Mali. They include the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), the Arab Movement for Azawad (MAA) and the High Council of Azawad Unity (HCUA).

The leaders had to start discussions yesterday, March 11, 2015 but effective discussions were postponed to today, March 12 due to protests against what they still consider a proposed  peace deal signed by the government, pro-government movements and the international community on March 1, 2015 in the Algerian capital, Algiers, RFI reported.  Following the tense atmosphere, CMA leaders decided to hold sector meetings with youths, women, fighter and refugees to explain the peace deal content to them before the general session today, RFI reported.

The Tuareg rebel groups, members of the CMA had not yet accepted the peace deal.  They demanded more time to consult with their supporters at the grassroots on the proposed peace deal before taking a decision either to endorse or reject it.  Besides the military leaders of the rebel groups, the Kidal crucial meeting also brings together leaders of pro-CMA tribes, members of the civil society, representative movements based in Mauritania, Burkina Faso and those of refugees, Jeune Afrique said.

Adopting a common stance on the peace deal will not be easy considering demonstration against the peace deal that started in Kidal on March 10.  "The people of Azawad will not sign their own death warrant," Reuters quoted a message on one of the banners. It further reported that other protesters waved the red, green, black and yellow flag of their notional State, shouted slogans against the accord and called for autonomy. The Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, Reuters cited, urged separatist rebels to quickly follow suit to differentiate themselves from a wave of Islamist violence in Mali.