ASC-075287668-2887-01

MALI’S MISSION CIVILISATRICE 147Upon this declaration, Touhaya was arrested and sent to Kidal for further questioning.He would eventually join the rebellion in 1963.To make matters worse, international complications and neo-colonial agentsdid not stay abroad. Both parties entangled in the Algerian war of independencewere physically present in the Malian Adagh! In the 1950s the French had builta small military air base near Tessalit. Between 1957 and July 1961 it accommodatedabout 150 air force men. 75 After independence in 1960, the base remainedin French hands, like three other military bases did, until the summer of1961, a presence that France saw as crucial in its strategy to secure southernAlgeria. 76 But from February 1961 onwards, an FLN training camp was installednext to this French air base. The US-RDA was among the most ardentsupporters of the Algerian cause. Even before Malian independence, ModiboKeita had made no secret of his point of view concerning the situation inAlgeria. After 1960, moral support gave way to active help. At the Casablancaconference of African states, Keita declared the Malian border open to the causeof the Algerian people. The FLN was allowed to open training camps in theAdagh, which were located in and around Gao, Tessalit, Aguelhoc and in Kidalitself. To students of the Algerian war of liberation, Northern Mali is known asWilaya VII. The names of the men commanding Wilaya VII are still known tomany Kel Adagh, but also to the rest of the world. The current AlgerianPresident, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, stood at the head of the FLN organisation inMali, seconded by revolutionary, novelist, psychiatrist and philosopher FranzFanon, who was responsible for contact between the FLN and the MalianGovernment and the local population. The FLN members in Mali were providedwith Malian passports and presented themselves locally as merchants of theAlgerian Touat. 77 They were equipped with arms and vehicles, and were free tomove around. In Tessalit, they cultivated gardens and, every now and then, theyorganised feasts for the local population. In order to enlarge their ranks andmake operations more effective, the FLN recruited with some success amongthe real Touati merchant community in the Adagh and among the Kel Adagh757677of the amenokal belongs. In both cases, rumour had it that France would attack Mali,either to support their former allies or to attack their enemies now believed to be inpower in the Adagh.Rapports des tournées dans le Cercle de Kidal. ANM – FN 1E-1227.The Tessalit air base was evacuated and handed over to the Malian authorities on the2nd of July 1961. The air base at Gao was evacuated in August 1961, while the lastarmy base in Kati was evacuated in September 1961. Centre des Archives Diplomatiques,Nantes (CADN) – Bamako 15 – Evacuation des bases 1961.Organisation administrative du poste de Tessalit. ACK. This file contained somedocuments dealing with the FLN base at Tessalit. Most of these documents werewithout date or signature.