Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Government of Mali, including military and security assistance, was terminated following the
coup.
2012 Terrorist Incidents: During the year, AQIM, MUJAO, and AAD captured the entire
northern half of Mali, including the towns of Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal. AAD destroyed
UNESCO World Heritage sites, including sacred Sufi shrines in Timbuktu, and enforced a
severe form of Sharia law, cutting off the hand of an alleged cattle thief and stoning to death an
unmarried couple with two children. Other terrorist incidents included:
On April 5, seven Algerian diplomats were kidnapped by MUJAO from their post in Gao.
At least four members of the group were being held at year’s end; two of the hostages
had been released, and one died in custody.
On October 14, MUJAO kidnapped six African aid workers in Niger and transported
them to Mali. MUJAO had allegedly been targeting an Italian anthropologist working for
the NGO Doctors without Borders in the region. Five Nigerien nationals were released at
the Mali-Niger border on November 3, but the sixth victim, a Chadian national, died from
his wounds.
On November 20, a French tourist was kidnapped by MUJAO in Diema, a town in
northwestern Mali, as he traveled to Bamako.
In addition to these kidnapping victims, at year’s end MUJAO and AQIM held nine other
people hostage in northern Mali from kidnapping operations conducted in previous years.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Malian law enforcement arrested a
number of alleged terrorists, both Malian and foreign, who were suspected of trying to join
northern armed groups. Some were cases of mistaken identity, such as two al-Jazeera journalists
arrested on December 1, who were later released. There were no successful prosecutions as a
result of these arrests.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Mali is a member of the Inter-Governmental Action Group
against Money Laundering in West Africa, a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body.
Mali's Financial Intelligence Unit is the National Center for the Treatment of Financial
Information (CENTIF). In 2012, the director of the CENTIF received training on asset freezing,
while the magistrate assigned to the CENTIF received training on prosecution-related issues.
CENTIF is authorized by law to freeze assets for a maximum of 48 hours while conducting an
investigation. The 48-hour period can be extended, but only by a magistrate. The main
impediments to improving the Malian law enforcement response to terrorist finance were a lack
of coordination between CENTIF and the law enforcement community, as well as insufficient
judicial capacity to transform CENTIF investigations into effective prosecutions.
Mali's capacity and will to freeze and confiscate assets remains unclear. Mali has yet to identify
or freeze any assets under Malian jurisdiction of UN-designated terrorist individuals or
entities. For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, we refer you to the
2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume 2, Money Laundering
and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/index.htm.
Regional and International Cooperation: In the aftermath of the coup d’état, Mali was
suspended from regional bodies such as ECOWAS and the AU, but was reinstated into the AU in
October. Mali has been a member of the Combined Operational General Staff Committee
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