Islamic body rejects independence

The Organisation of Islamic Co-operation on Saturday rejected a unilateral claim of independence by Tuareg rebels in north Mali, a statement said. The 57-member pan-Muslim body, to which Mali belongs, welcomed, however, a decision by the military junta to give up power under a deal with the West African bloc ECOWAS in return for amnesty and a lifting of sanctions.
OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu "expressed the OIC's total rejection of the so-called proclamation by the (Tuaregs' secular) National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) of an independent homeland in the north of the Republic of Mali," according to an English-language statement. Ihsanoglu "firmly condemned this act of separatism while he emphasised the OIC's principled commitment to Mali's territorial integrity and inalienable sovereignty over its internationally recognised borders," it added.