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Rebellion: Al-Jebha (1990-1996)6On 28 June 1990 started what is now known in Mali as ‘The Second TuaregRebellion’, or ‘The Problems of The North’. The Kel Tamasheq, especially theTanekra members involved, refer to this period in their history as al-Jebha: theArabic term for front or rebellion, but also as Tanekra, the Tamasheq word foruprising. The rebellion would last until March 1996, when the conflict wasceremoniously ended with ‘The Flame of Peace’: the burning of around 3,000weapons, handed in by the rebel fighters, at a Timbuktu marketplace.One can discern four partly overlapping phases in the conflict. I havelabelled the first phase, from June 1990 to January 1991, the ‘real rebellion’. Inthis first half year, a united rebel movement fought the Malian Armed Forces,winning a series of military victories culminating in the ‘Battle at Toximine’,the rebels’ most decisive defeat of the Malian Armed Forces. The victory atToximine, together with strong rising opposition to the Traoré Regime resultedin negotiations leading to a ceasefire: the Tamanrasset Agreement. The conflictentered a second phase in January 1991, lasting until early1994. This three-yearperiod was characterised by factionalism and constant negotiation over peacewith the Malian Government. I have therefore labelled it the ‘confused rebellion’.Both the Malian state and the Tamasheq movement were faced withinternal conflicts and changes. I will describe and analyse this complex set ofalterations in the second part of this chapter. In 1994 the rebellion entered athird phase. The obstruction of the National Pact – a peace agreement signed in1992 – and the absence of the state in Northern Mali, combined with continuedarmy retaliation, led the movements to reorganise themselves almost strictlyalong tewsit lines, which then engaged in hostilities over the structure of theTamasheq political landscape. In April 1994 a new player entered the conflict.The Mouvement Patriotique Ganda Koy – MPGK, created in April 1994 – wasa vigilante brigade created in Gao by deserted army officers in reaction to