CAIRO: The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday it was dealing with a move of refugees from Mali away from volatile border areas in neighboring countries. Violence between Tuareg separatists and government forces has forced at least 50,0000 people to flee their homes in the West African country, according to international organizations. “In Mauritania over 13,000 people have arrived in the past two weeks – an average of 1,000 a day,” the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in Geneva. The UNHCR is working with the governments of Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso to relocate refugees to camps that are being set up further inland. On Monday, the French Cooperation Minister Henri de Raincourt reported that some 100 Tuareg had been massacred in the country. The Tuaregs were executed in the northern town of Aguelhok during a recent offensive between the government and Tuareg fighters, he said. “We're talking about one hundred people who were captured and executed in cold blood,” de Raincourt said. “The execution method was similar to those used by al-Qaeda … some had their throats cut, others were killed by shots to the head … barbaric methods,” he said. The MNLA has been bolstered by the return of weapons and Tuareg fighters from Libya, many of whom were members of Libya's army under Muammar Gaddafi. De Raincourt told RFI that the MNLA only represents a small percentage of northern Mali's population. “There are other groups: Berbers, Arabs, other ethnic groups,” he said. “We feel that the majority of the (Tuareg) population does not support the MNLA movement.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/q8BpT Tags: Mali, Massacre, Refugees, UNHCR Section: Human Rights, Latest News, West Africa
