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144 CHAPTER 3analyses, and, if not some certainty, at least solid grounds on which to assessmotivations, causes, and ideas’. 68The national and international setting further complicated the political situationin the Adagh. Nationally the new regime was not sure of its commandover the newly independent country. The Dioula protest over the Malian Franc,resulting in the political elimination of the former PSP leadership, and theDogon rebellion discussed previously were the clearest signals of this lack offull control. The Keita Regime was therefore prone to overreact in tense situations.Internationally, continued French presence in the Adagh and in thecountries surrounding Mali, notably the Algerian Sahara, made the regimeuncomfortable on one hand, and on the other hand it was seen by some KelAdagh as a sign that not all hopes of an independent Tamasheq existence withFrench help were lost.Under the policy of Africanisation of the administration inaugurated prior toformal independence, the top ranking civil and military commanders serving inthe Adagh were chosen from what came closest to the local population. By May1960 the Commandant de Cercle of Kidal was a local man from Goundam: Mohamedould Mohamed Najim of mixed Bidân and Kel Intessar origins. TheChef de Poste at Tessalit, Mohamed Mahmoud, was a Bidân. The commanderof the Kidal goum police corps, Mohamed Belkacem, was from the Adaghitself. The commander of the main army platoon in the area, the GroupementNomade du Timetrine (GNT), was second lieutenant Mohamed ag MohamedAlhadi, nicknamed Zoulbeyba, a Kel Intessar. The new local commanders,particularly those of the goum, tried to gain the confidence of the population inthe same way the French had done. On each patrol they took such luxury itemslike medicines, tea and sugar with them to distribute as presents in the visitedcamps. Another way to gain popularity was the elimination of predatory animalsthat caused so much loss of domestic animals in the area. The task of thegoum to gain confidence was not an easy one. In colonial times, the goumierswere the epitome of all that was bad in the state: They collected taxes; kidnappedchildren to bring them to the French schools; and claimed riding camelsfrom the population for their work. They had only been kept in check by theFrench commanders, who were now gone. The presence of Tamasheq administratorsat the head of the Cercle meant that all language barriers between rulersand ruled had fallen away, but despite the possibility of clear communicationthe relations between the Malian administration and the Kel Adagh were fed byrumours. Nothing seemed tangible; everything depended on hearsay, misinterpretedstatements, shreds of information and fear on both sides.68White, L. 2000: 308.