Western big business seek ethnic cleansing of Mali Tuareg: Analyst http://islamtimes.org/vdcen78wzjh8wni.1kbj.html Islam Times - Western corporations eyeing Mali’s uranium and oil resources seek to ethnically cleanse the native Tuareg population, a political analyst said.

In the background of this, Malian Prime Minister Cheikh Modibo Diarra has resigned along with his government hours after he was arrested by the forces of the junta, which led a recent coup in the country.An interview with Moeen Raoof, a defence consultant, to further discuss the issue. 

Raoof:The real issue is the land the Tuaregs occupied traditionally for thousands of years. It just happens to be resource-rich; in this case, uranium and probably oil. So, they need to ethnically cleanse these areas.Same as south Sudan; they ethnically cleansed South Sudan and then blamed it on the north. In effect what’s happened is they’ve cleared the oil rich areas so these villagers couldn’t lay claim or deny them exploration rights. That’s what’s really happening.

Q: I’m interested in the uranium, not just because any militants watching this program wanting some sort of briefcase. But if we consider what Joe Wilson said to his wife, Valerie, about the uranium, is there a possibility of yellow cake disappearing from this region?
Raoof: No, it can’t be and I’ll tell you why; very simple reason. French foreign forces and French intelligence monitor that location. It’s a location called Arlit.
Q: But today, from Mali with all this uranium being mined?
Raoof: No way, no chance. There is no way uranium could leave even if it’s under Tuareg, shall we say, control. Uranium could not leave the border areas. Algeria is on high alert. Niger is on high alert. Burkina Faso in the south is on high alert.All the countries bordering - and they have drones; they have thousands of drones. US, Africa Command have thousands of drones flying daily, 24 hours, all over Mali, Niger and Bali.
Q: Well, you seem to be presenting a case where, I don’t know, the Saudis could be involved here of creating this scare of al-Qaeda in the region to enable NATO to protect private, multinational companies.
Raoof: Yeah, Qataris because it’s Qatari investment, again. So, they’re getting involved but they’re proxies, again. Yes, you’re absolutely right.
It’s probably a bit of Saudis but the Qataris are the main, shall we say, players in this.
Q: Does that mean that the Tuaregs will just take it lying down?
Raoof: They will fight. The Tuaregs are not people who lay back. They’re armed. They will fight but they will be murdered. I believe they will be ethnically cleansed from the oil rich areas.