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180 CHAPTER 4pounding grain, fetching firewood, and sweeping the compound. Sometimes the(non)marital situation even grew dangerous as the above quote shows. Imprisoningwomen had the effect the authorities desired. Many families returnedfrom their exile in Algeria to plead for the liberation of their womenfolk. 59The arrest of the leadersIf the Malian right of pursuit on Algerian territory had not made it clear to therebels that their strategy to start the fight in the hope for external support hadfailed, the fate of Zeyd ag Attaher’s mission to Algeria to explicitly demandAlgerian support would certainly have done so. In the autumn of 1963, Zeyd agAttaher decided to contact the Algerian Government to remind it of what heperceived as its promise, made during his visit in 1961 to the Hoggar, to supporthis cause. 60 He travelled to Tamanrasset, where he asked to meet the Governor.During the meeting Zeyd requested to speak to the Algerian President, AhmedBen Bella, and to be provided with transport to Algiers. The request wasgranted, but Malian diplomacy had been ahead of Zeyd. On 28 September 1963the Malian Chief of Staff, Abdoulaye Soumaré, had visited Algiers to speakwith the authorities about the uprising. 61 Soumaré managed to convince theAlgerian authorities of the necessity of arresting Zeyd or other rebels when theypresented themselves. At their arrival in Colomb-Béchar, Zeyd and his companionIlyas ag Ayyouba were arrested. The car in which they travelled turnedaround and drove them to Tessalit. There, they were put on an airplane to Kidalwhere they arrived on 1 November. 62In the same period, the ground was laid for the arrest of Mohamed Ali agAttaher Insar who had lived in exile in Morocco since the 1950s. Again, internationalrelations worked against the rebels. In October 1963, Morocco was atwar with Algeria over the border area around Tindouf. The area was Algerianterritory, but Morocco claimed it on historical grounds as al-Maghreb al-Aksâ,Greater Morocco. The conflict was resolved with the help of Modibo Keita,whose diplomatic skills and international prestige made him a valid interme-59606162Le Sous-Lieutenant Mohamed ag Mohamed Elhadi, Commandant du GNIG deTarkimt, au chef d’escadron Commandant la Gendarmerie Nationale du Mali àBamako. Objet: Compte rendu sur une tournée du 14 au 21 Avril 1964. ACK.The following is based on three interviews with Amegha ag Sherif, Brussels, October1994; Bamako 08/02/1998; and Bamako, 10/02/1998. For a similar account,based on the reminiscence of the same witness, see Boilley, P. 1999: 318.Mali, Tableau des forces armées et forces publiques du Mali au 1er mai 1964.CHETOM – 15 H 77-2c.Boilley (1999), 338. 15 November is given as the date of Zeyd’s arrest in Algeria inMali, Tableau des forces armées et forces publiques du Mali au 1er mai 1964.CHETOM – 15 H 77-2c.