Crisis in Mali came into the limelight of world public after ihadists took over the north of the

country and carried out several terrorist attacks in the area. However, the background of the conflict dates back to the earlier period, primarily from the 199 s. !ne of the striking a"is of conflict that faces Mali is territorial, and religious. #uareg people in the area $%awad, which is in the north of the country, demanded a higher form of autonomy in the last decade of the & th century. !rgani%ation of the 'ational (iberation )ront of $%awad, whose goal is to make $%awad an independent state for the #uareg people, controlled the area from $pril to *uly & 1&. +t took advantage of the coup which took place in Mali in March & 1& when the national army lost control of the north of the country. !ne of the reasons for an easy con,uest of $%awad is that the '()$ took weapons from (ibya, after the overthrow of Muammar al-.addafi. /eapons were transferred to #uareg so that they could fight for their independence. +nstability in the countries of the Maghreb and fre,uent clashes contributed to the e"change of weapons from other regions such as the /estern 0ahara. #he !rgani%ation of '()$ allied up with a group of $nsar 1ine, which over time took control of the territory $%awad. 0ince +slamists in (ibya came into power, and $nsar 1ine also had some +slamist elements in their political program, the '()$ decided to make an alliance with $l - 2aeda. #he '()$ was suppressed over time and $nsar 1+ne took absolute control of the region. $nsar 1ine is also linked with 3ihad, so they proclaimed 0haria law in the north of the country. #he government of Mali asked the 4nited 'ations and )rance for help. )rench president )ran5ois Mitterrand allowed the intervention. $l-2aeda and other movements were forced to withdraw. 6eace was signed on 17 *une & 18. #he 4' Mission in Mali called M+'40M$, was formed on &9th of $pril by the 0ecurity Council resolution &1 . $fter the signing of the ceasefire and the withdrawal of the rebels, )rance handed over the control of the 'orth Mali to the 4' troops. However, members of the #uareg re3ected the agreement on the &:th of 0eptember, claiming that the government does not respect the terms of the agreement.

)rance had a great interest in finding a solution to this conflict. )irst of all, the )rench felt responsible for Mali since it was once their colony. +n addition, the )rench multinational companies showed their interest in solving this conflict. )inally, a very important a"is of conflict is resources. Mali is known for its production of gold ;it is the third biggest producer in the world<, but also for precious stones, diamonds, uranium, oil deposits. =esides )rance, some other >4 countries showed interest, such as =elgium, 1enmark and .ermany. 4nited ?ingdom also took part as a potential rival in purchasing concessions on oil. #herefore, we can often hear criticism from certain powers, such as @ussian )ederation or China about the neo-colonialist policy of the /estern powers. #he problem Mali faces is big. #he ,uestion is how the 4' will integrate the north of Mali into the country, despite the fact that the conflict has ceased to e"ist. $re there any possible negotiations between the '()$ and central governmentA Can we have any solution where we could possibly have any kind of autonomy for #uaregA #he great task is before the 4nited 'ations, which try to help the vulnerable areas of Mali with their presence and to reduce poverty and underdevelopment that have deepened Mali because of the war crisis.