Some 150 soldiers from the Malian Army entered Kidal at long last on Friday. Malian TV showed happy crowds – some black, some Tuareg- welcoming them and waving Malian flags. So far so good. But what happened next was not shown and less encouraging- those that had demonstrated their support for the Malian Army’s arrival were promptly attacked and certain among the black population had to flee to safety at the Malian army camp, according to RFI (Radio France Inter). It appears that the attacking was carried out by the MNLA's women and children who were throwing stones etc. The MNLA's soldiers are of course in 'containment' according to the Ouagadougou agreement.

At the same time, the MNLA are refusing  Colonel Gamou (above) entry into Kidal with his men. Gamou is an exciting figure: (I am having a school girl crush on him...just look at that Gary Grant chin!) a  famous Tuareg colonel who was part of the  MNLA, but who swapped sides and was integrated into the Malian army many years ago.  Last year during the Islamist conquest of the north, he was cut off and stranded in the middle of nowhere with his regiment of badly armed Malian soldiers. When he realized that the opponent had far superior fire power  he pretended to swap sides again  in  order to save his troops, and for a moment everyone thought he was actually betraying Mali and deserting. But no- he later escaped with his men and surfaced again in the Niger, having saved the lives of his 500 troops. Gamou was with the Malian army contingent that successfully attacked Anefis recently, which prompted the emergency talks in Ouagadougou. The MNLA are not keen on him...