Malian divisions wear thin

LONDON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Stability in Mali might become an attractive prospect for a divided country given the growing frustration with the state of affairs, an analyst said.

Interim President Dioncounda Traore returned to Mali last week from Paris with much praise. He was in France receiving medical care for wounds suffered during an attack by pro-coup demonstrators early this year.

A report from London policy center Chatham House said African leaders had expressed frustration over potential instability in the region in the aftermath of the Libyan conflict.

Tuareg rebels in the north of the country had fought alongside pro-government forces during last year's civil war in Libya. Now in Mali, they've been fighting alongside Ansar Dine, a militant group with ties to al-Qaida.

Amnesty International, in a report this week, said the Malian challenges since the beginning of the year have "shaken the very foundations of the state."

Chatham House, however, said Malians in the north of the country may be attracted by the prospects of a stable state.

"And with many locals resentful of Shariah, the law of the gun and the destruction of centuries of heritage by Ansar Dine militants, these changed dynamics might exert pressure on the rebels to negotiate and open up a way for Mali to be pieced back together," writes Paul Melly, an associate fellow at the London think tank.