ASC-075287668-2887-01

328 EPILOGUEthe tribal structure or the new democratic institutions. Iyad never publiclyexpressed his claim to Irayakan leadership within the Ifoghas and hence to thetitle of amenokal, nevertheless the claim was clearly perceived. This forced theKel Effele, especially the sons of Intalla ag Attaher, to bid for power within allpossible structures in order to strengthen their hand in the struggle over theposition of amenokal, which they knew was coming up. The 1999 Communalelections had finally brought Alghabbas ag Intalla to power as the new Mayorof Kidal city. Alghabbas was also generally seen by the Kel Effele as the mostlikely candidate to replace his father as amenokal. In 2002 he was electedKidal’s representative in the National Assembly. He was replaced as mayor byBayene ag Ahawali. Somewhere during those years, Alghabbas’ older brotherAttayoub ag Intalla travelled to Pakistan to study Islam under the guidance ofthe Tablighi Jamaat. 23 The importance of this journey in political terms cannotbe overestimated and reflects the further intertwining of traditional and nationalpolitics. The Kel Effele base the legitimacy of their power in their religiousstatus as shorfa (descendants of the prophet Muhammad) and in their religiousknowledge. The claims of Intalla ag Attaher to the position of amir al-mu'minin,ruler of the believers, should be seen in this light. Through his piety and religiouslearning, Attayoub ag Intalla represents the spiritual dimension of the KelEffele powerbase. He was back from Pakistan well before the 2004 communalelections, which brought him to the position of Mayor, a position he kept untilthe 2009 elections, when he was replaced by Arbakane ag Abzayak. Theiroldest brother, Mohammed ag Intalla, had been the representative for the Cercleof Kidal in the National Assembly since the 1990s and was now the representativefor the Cercle of Ti-n-Essako. Thus, the Kel Effele covered their politicalpower bases in the religious and democratic political domains to protecttheir position against the possible threats to their tribal power from the side ofthe Irayakan, a power they see as the most important in a variegated politicalfield. Of course, the possible threats to their power came not only from withinthe Ifoghas, but also from outside. In 2002 Alghabbas ag Intalla had Zeid agHamzata as his rival in the elections for the National Assembly, and Zeid agHamzata also announced his candidacy for the post of Mayor of Kidal in 2004,challenging Attayoub ag Intalla (among other candidates, they were not the onlyones). In 2007, Zeid again competed with Alghabbas for the election of theNational Assembly representative, and accused Alghabbas of large-scale electoralfraud. 242324The exact dates and duration of his travels are not known to me.Arrêt n°07-179/cc–el du 10 août 2007 portant proclamation des résultats définitifsdu deuxième tour de l’élection des députés a l’assemblée nationale (scrutin du 22juillet 2007). http://www.matcl.gov.ml/img/pdf/resultats2etourlegislives.pdf