What started out as a violent, destructive and bloody Tuareg rebellion in pursuit of an independent Tuareg homeland has ended in Islamic conquest and the spectre of al Qaeda.
On Thursday 5 April, after three months of fighting, the main ethnic Tuareg rebel group -- the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (NMLA) -- announced a ceasefire. Having seized the capitals of the three main northern provinces in three days -- Kidal, on 30 March; Gao, on 31 March; and Timbuktu, on 1 April (see map) -- the NMLA declared it had achieved its military goal.
See: Tuareg rebels in Mali declare cease-fire, end of military operations
By Associated Press, Published: April 5
Despite having fought alongside the professedly secular and nationalistic NMLA supposedly in support of Tuareg independence, Ansar Dine -- an Islamist group led by Iyad ag Ghali, a Tuareg who led a major rebellion in the 1990s -- has since supplanted the NMLA, hoisted the black flag of al-Qaeda and declared the imposition of Sharia law.
In a video filmed in Timbuktu and obtained by the AFP news agency and France 2 television, Ansar Dine military chief Omar Hamaha declared: "Our war is a holy war. It’s a legal war in the name of Islam. We are against rebellions. We are against independence. We are against revolutions not in the name of Islam."
See: Tuaregs claim 'independence' from Mali
6 April 2012, Al Jazeera
Film footage on Al Jazeera shows well armed Ansar Dine mujahideen driving a column of machine-gun mounted military vehicles each flying the black flag of al Qaeda. Ansar Dine is also exploiting the chaos of the Tuareg rebellion, of which they were a part, and re-inventing themselves as enforcers of law and order, offering hope to a traumatised people.
See: Tuareg groups disagree on objectives
-- a 2.35minute video news clip by Al Jazeera, 9 Apr 2012
Separatist MNLA declares Azawad independence, while Ansar Dine group wants to impose Islamic law.
According to reports, some 100 Nigerian Boko Haram militants who assisted in the capture of Gao have also established a presence there. Sources report that there are four distinct flags flying in Gao: the NMLA, Boko Haram, Ansar Dine, and Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and while the NMLA are nowhere to be seen, having been pushed to the periphery, there are plenty of armed, bearded Salafis.
See: Mali rebels declare independence in north as fears grow over extremist links
by Afua Hirsch, West Africa correspondent, the Guardian, 6 April 2012
DEVASTATION WIDESPREAD
IRIN, a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reports (3 April), "Malians in the northern towns of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu are hiding in their homes in fear following the weekend takeover by rebel groups, during which hospitals, health clinics, government buildings, and most NGO and UN offices and warehouses were looted, and in some cases destroyed, leaving the bulk of humanitarian operations suspended."
"Issa Mahamar Touré, president of the youth association in Gao, said total chaos reigned after widespread looting of government offices, NGOs, banks and hospitals in his town. 'People are hiding at their homes unable to leave… no trucks are arriving with further supplies... What will we do when our stocks run out? The hospital is closed and doctors have fled… It is complete desolation, despair… We can only turn to the international community for help.'"
Julia McDade, head of the Malian office of Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), which works with partners on agriculture projects and women’s rights in Timbuktu and Gao, told IRIN: "'Everyone [in Gao] is in hiding, everyone's vehicles have been stolen… every single office has been ransacked.'
"All the aid agencies IRIN spoke to have had their equipment stolen and have been forced to suspend operations, in the middle of a food emergency. Offices of the World Food Programme (WFP), which provides the bulk of food aid in the north were looted, and the organization has halted its activities in Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, as well as the central town of Mopti, according to its head, Nancy Walters.
"Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Oxfam, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) all repeated the same story. 'Our cars, aid materials, offices and staff residences were all looted [in Gao],' Jurg Eglin, head of ICRC for Niger and Mali told IRIN. 'We are still trying to take stock of what we have lost.'
Caritas Mali reported that its local office in Gao in northern Mali was destroyed along with the local church which served Gao's 200-strong Catholic community.
IRIN also reports that according to sources, rapes are taking place in Timbuktu and Gao. "An NGO trainer in Gao, Adama Konipo, told IRIN he had seen rebels taking women away from the health centre, 'to who knows where', in recent days. After seeing one young woman in tears in the street, family members told him she had been raped by five MNLA soldiers. Others reported two rebels raping a young woman in the market place, firing their guns when anyone dared to approach them. 'It is impossible for any young women to leave their houses for fear,' Konipo told IRIN."
See also: Islamist Rebel Faction Imposes Sharia In The North Of Mali
by Soumaila T. Diarra (Bamako), April 06, 2012, Inter Press Service
ANSAR DINE TO THE RESCUE
Reporting from Bamako, Mali, for Associated Press (AP), Martin Vogl and Rukmini Callimachi spoke to Dramane Maiga, an employee of a transport company. He told them that the Islamists have been handing out a hotline number and encouraging residents to call if they are in trouble, apparently in an effort to instil confidence in the local population.
Maiga told AP that on Sunday 8 April he was on a bus loaded with residents attempting to flee Gao when it was ambushed by Tuareg fighters from the NMLA intending to rob the passengers. The passengers, however, got busy calling the Ansar Dine hotline and in less than 30 minutes, Ansar Dine mujahideen had arrived. The bus passengers then watched on in horror as the jihadists slit the throat of one Tuareg gunman, to cries of "Allahu Akbar".
See: Witness: Islamist fighters execute Tuareg in Mali
By Martin Vogl and Rukmini Callimachi in Bamako, Mali,
Associated Press, 9 April 2012
But according to IRIN -- and contrary to the footage on Al Jazeera -- the Islamists do not have widespread support amongst the population. “'We are against this takeover', said Amouhani Touré, a teacher who had just fled the town [of Timbuktu]. 'These Islamists want to impose their rules on us… We’re in the 21st century, you can’t impose Sharia on peaceful citizens. The authorities, if we have any still, must fight these Islamists with all their might… Timbuktu is a holy site, a tourist town; UNESCO-protected, we will say no to all forms of separatism.'”
The representative for Timbuktu in Mali’s Parliament, El Hadji Baba Haidara, also lamented the takeover. “Why do they want to Islamize us?” he said, observing that the city has been Muslim since the 12th century. “And now these Islamists want to teach us to pray! In fact, Timbuktu is a victim of its name and celebrity: for the rebels, it’s a symbol that must be taken in order to be seen. I am not O.K. with Sharia in Timbuktu. For us, it’s extremism."
CHRISTIANS FLEE AFTER BEING TARGETED
Driven out by the devastating violence, but especially by the Islamic threat, virtually the entire Christian population of northern Mali has been forced to flee for their lives.
The Guardian reports: "A source who fled the rebel-held town of Gao said that extremists were heavily involved in the advance and were now targeting the Christian minority in northern towns.
"'The rebels have sacked the church in Gao, burning the contents whilst crying Allah Akhbar,' the source told the Guardian. 'At a rebel barricade outside Gao, the bodies of people who have been slaughtered were laid out on the ground.'
"In a further report, which could not be verified, the Guardian learned that the Christian prefect of the town of Bourem had also been killed along with his relatives. 'The prefect was slaughtered at a checkpoint along with his family,' a source said. 'Christians here are now living in real fear.'"
See: Mali rebels declare independence in north as fears grow over extremist links
by Afua Hirsch, West Africa correspondent, the Guardian, 6 April 2012
Reporting from Bamako, Mali, Rukmini Callimachi reports for Associated Press that more than 90 per cent of Timbuktu's roughly 300 Christians have fled. Baptist Pastor Nock Ag Info Yattara, who has fled to Bourem, reports that not one of the 205 people in his congregation, which has worshipped in Timbuktu since the 1950s, remains. While Ansar Dine, which has established itself in the city's principle military camp, is controlling downtown Timbuktu, , the NMLA is being forced to camp out at the airport.
"'What I deplore,' laments Ousmane Halle, the mayor of Timbuktu, 'is the departure of the Christian community. Many said to me that they are obliged to leave. And they are right. I cannot guarantee their safety. And these are people that have lived side by side with us for centuries.'
See: Islamists impose sharia in Mali's Timbuktu
By Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press, 4 April 2012
NO EASY FIX
This is a situation for which there will be no easy fix.
(For prayer points see: RLPB 154. Mali: Christians flee imposition of Sharia, 11 April 2012)
Background:
The nomadic Tuareg controlled the caravan trade routes through the Sahara for thousands of years until recent trends reversed their fortunes.
Firstly, when Mali and Niger declared independence in 1960 they claimed territory that until that time had been the Tuareg's domain. At that point, the Tuareg began rebelling against the governments of Mali and Niger.
Then, in the 1970s and 1980s, drought accelerated the process of desertification, forcing many Tuareg to migrate north into Libya and Algeria. At the same time, the trends of rapid population growth and urbanisation changed the landscape considerably with the Tuareg powerless to stop their traditional lands being acquired by non-Tuareg farmers and developers. Further to this, as maritime trade increased in prominence the Tuareg were robbed of their traditional livelihood, forcing the nomadic Tuareg to diversify -- mostly into arms, drugs and hostage trafficking, activities that have brought them into contact with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Meanwhile, many Tuareg in Libya received military training and were incorporated into Gaddafi's Islamic Legion. (These were purely business arrangements and had nothing to do with ideology.)
In the late 1980s, the governments of Mali and Niger seduced many Tuareg back home with promises of assistance. Those who returned were now well armed, well trained militarily and linked through "business" (not ideology) to AQIM. When the promised assistance did not materialise and the northern regions remained as poor, under-serviced and marginalised as ever, the Tuareg rebelled again -- in Mali in 1992; and in Niger in 1995. French and US-mediated talks promised decentralised government and real assistance, including the incorporation of Tuareg fighters into the military. But once again, the assistance never materialised and resources remained concentrated in the south. Tensions rose.
From around the turn of the century, in order to prevent the impoverished northern regions becoming an al Qaeda sanctuary, France and the US launched anti-terrorism initiatives, offering advanced military training to Tuaregs so they could combat Islamic jihadists, including al Qaeda. Consequently, when the Tuareg rebelled again in 2007, they were more sophisticated than ever. Peace was brokered in 2009, but it was fragile. The rebellion's leader, Ibrahim Ag Bahanga, fled to Libya.
In August 2011, Ibrahim Ag Bahanga re-emerged in northern Mali. He vowed over satellite phone to renew the Tuareg rebellion. Without hours he was dead -- most probably assassinated by a US-trained Malian counterterrorism unit. Ibrahim Ag Bahanga had been among some 800 Tuaregs who fought as pro-Gaddafi mercenaries in the Libyan conflict. As Gaddafi's fortunes reversed, the Tuareg, aware their salaries would soon end, simply packed up and returned to Mali bringing with them large quantities of weapons, ammunitions and military vehicles stolen from Gaddafi's arsenals.
It was this influx of a large number of cashed-up, well-armed and well-trained fighters, led by a former Libyan army colonel, Ag Mohamed Najem, that re-energised the long-simmering Tuareg insurgency against the Malian government. These are the Tuareg who formed the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and met with the government of Mali in November to let them know they were rejecting the authority of the parliamentarians and intending to have their own state.
And as Stratfor Security Weekly reports (2 Feb), Najem is not the only NMLA leader with significant military experience. "Experienced defectors from the Malian army including Lt. Col. Ag Mbarek Aky and Col. Ag Bamoussa reportedly have bolstered the organization. The presence of experienced military leaders gives the MNLA an increased ability to organize and mobilize its units across a broad swath of territory in northern Mali."
See: Mali Besieged by Fighters Fleeing Libya
By Scott Stewart, February 2, 2012
Stratfor, Security Weekly
For more background, see also:
The Tuaregs: From African Nomads to Smugglers and Mercenaries
Stratfor 2 Feb 2012
Other helpful and interesting articles:
Who are the Tuareg rebels conquering northern Mali?
3 April 2012 France 24
Tribulation in Timbuktu
The Tuareg people are profiting from the post-Gaddafi power shifts across the Saharan sands, contends Gamal Nkrumah
Al-Ahram, 5 - 11 April 2012, Issue No. 1092
Tuaregs 'all about securing power' in Mali's north
Deutsche Welle spoke with Dr. Julia Leininger, the Africa coordinator in the "Governance, Statehood, Security" department at the German Development Institute (DIE) about the Tuaregs and their aims. 6 April 2012
The Tuareg Denominator
By Jay Radzinski, Middle East Online 16 Feb 2012
New north Mali Arab force seeks to "defend" Timbuktu
Bate Felix and Adama Diarra, Reuters April 10, 2012
BAMAKO | Mon Apr 9, 2012
Foreign Policy: The Mess In Mali
by Gregory Mann, NPR 10 April 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Indonesia: saying "NO" to Islamic Intolerance
-- specifically to the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI)
By Elizabeth Kendal
Something happened in Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of Central Kalimantan, on Saturday 11February 2012 that may prove pivotal for Indonesia. While it was not the first time Indonesian moderates, reformists, human rights activists and peace-loving citizens have taken a stand against Islamic intolerance, it was an inspirational victory.
On 11 February, four prominent leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI: Front Pembela Islam) flew into Central Kalimantan from Jakarta to inaugurate their organisation in Palangkaraya. Upon landing, however, the FPI delegation -- which included FPI founder, Saudi-educated Habib Rizieq -- was blocked by a crowd of around 800 locals, mostly indigenous Dayaks, at Palangkaraya's Tjilik Riwut Airport.
After first staging a street protest -- displaying banners at strategic locations and railing against the FPI and its plans to open an office in the city -- the protestors met up at Tjilik Riwut Airport in time to besiege the FPI leaders on their plane. According to Tempo Interactive, "The residents said they did not want the organization, which often uses violence, to enter their area."
The protestors forced their way onto the runway to confront the FPI officials, causing air traffic to be disrupted for over three hours. They dispersed only after airport officials convinced them that the FPI members would not be permitted to disembark and would travel on to another destination.
The Jakarta Globe headline on 16 February was a classic: "Could Palangkaraya Be Our Rosa Parks' Moment in the War Against Violence?" According to Jakarta Globe correspondent Pangeran Siahaan, "The people of Palangkaraya believe violence, which the FPI advocates, is intolerable and they found FPI’s presence in their city as a threat to society. The residents were successful in ousting the FPI, as the FPI officers . . . fled without stepping off their plane."
From Palangkaraya to Jakarta . . .
As Peter Alford, Jakarta correspondent for The Australian comments, "Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) bullying is so rarely confronted that the spectacle of its officials being almost literally run out of town in Central Kalimantan last weekend grabbed national attention.
"Civil society activists in the national capital, where the hard-liners wield their strongest influence, have tried to seize upon FPI's momentary discomfiture to galvanise a 'Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia'."
Jakarta's 'Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia' held its inaugural public demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle on 14 February. "If Kalimantan can do it, Jakarta can also do it," activist spokeswoman Tunggal Pawestri told the Jakarta Globe.
The Jakarta Globe's Pangeran Siahaan attended the demonstration, which he says was inspired by the courage, determination and principle on display in Palangkaraya and fuelled by the same spirit.
"Everybody," writes Siahaan, "has said that they’re fed up with the unlawful behavior of such organizations, but nothing had been done publicly to declare a war against violence and intolerance until the citizens of Palangkaraya stood up and their voices reached the people of Jakarta. Driven by the same spirit and anger caused by the government’s leniency towards violence, I joined the protest rally at the HI traffic circle. It was a peaceful event as the protesters unfurled banners and posters while chanting, 'Indonesia Damai! Tanpa FPI! Tanpa Kekerasan' ('Peace in Indonesia! Without FPI! Without Violence!')."
Siahaan despairs that when FPI militants disrupted the protest and began assaulting some of the protestors, the police chose to shepherd the protestors, rather than the attackers, away from the HI traffic circle, supposedly for safety reasons.
"What a bucket of nonsense," rails Siahaan, "because what’s the purpose of the police’s being there if not to prevent harm to the rally attendants?"
Vivi Widyawati, a coordinator with the "Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia" said the Jakarta rally was intended to widen opposition to the hardline group following the Dayaks’ 11 February protest at Palangkaraya airport.
. . . to Surabaya and beyond
And as Megawati Wijaya reports for Asia Times, opposition to the FPI is widening. "The anti-FPI movement spread to Surabaya, another major metropolitan area where people referring to themselves as 'Surabaya Residents Against Violence' held a similar rally on February 17. Although the group did not specifically refer to the FPI in its addresses promoting non-violence, yells of 'Indonesia without FPI, Indonesia without violence' could be heard from the gathered mass, according to local press reports."
In order to maintain momentum, Jakarta's "Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia" is planning to take the battle online using Twitter, blogging and other social media tools. Bhagavad Sambada, one of the movement's founders, is confident: "The snowball has rolled and it is getting bigger. The movement will be more widespread and will be unstoppable."
The FPI has slammed the movement as a "Western-funded plot".
-----
Related:
FPI files reports to police over hostile Palangkaraya welcome
Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/13/2012 11:54 AM
No love shown to the FPI
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/15/2012
FPI and the Government: Best Friends?
by Calvin Michel Sidjaja, Jakarta Globe, 21 Feb 2012
By Elizabeth Kendal
Something happened in Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of Central Kalimantan, on Saturday 11February 2012 that may prove pivotal for Indonesia. While it was not the first time Indonesian moderates, reformists, human rights activists and peace-loving citizens have taken a stand against Islamic intolerance, it was an inspirational victory.
On 11 February, four prominent leaders of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI: Front Pembela Islam) flew into Central Kalimantan from Jakarta to inaugurate their organisation in Palangkaraya. Upon landing, however, the FPI delegation -- which included FPI founder, Saudi-educated Habib Rizieq -- was blocked by a crowd of around 800 locals, mostly indigenous Dayaks, at Palangkaraya's Tjilik Riwut Airport.
After first staging a street protest -- displaying banners at strategic locations and railing against the FPI and its plans to open an office in the city -- the protestors met up at Tjilik Riwut Airport in time to besiege the FPI leaders on their plane. According to Tempo Interactive, "The residents said they did not want the organization, which often uses violence, to enter their area."
The protestors forced their way onto the runway to confront the FPI officials, causing air traffic to be disrupted for over three hours. They dispersed only after airport officials convinced them that the FPI members would not be permitted to disembark and would travel on to another destination.
The Jakarta Globe headline on 16 February was a classic: "Could Palangkaraya Be Our Rosa Parks' Moment in the War Against Violence?" According to Jakarta Globe correspondent Pangeran Siahaan, "The people of Palangkaraya believe violence, which the FPI advocates, is intolerable and they found FPI’s presence in their city as a threat to society. The residents were successful in ousting the FPI, as the FPI officers . . . fled without stepping off their plane."
From Palangkaraya to Jakarta . . .
As Peter Alford, Jakarta correspondent for The Australian comments, "Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) bullying is so rarely confronted that the spectacle of its officials being almost literally run out of town in Central Kalimantan last weekend grabbed national attention.
"Civil society activists in the national capital, where the hard-liners wield their strongest influence, have tried to seize upon FPI's momentary discomfiture to galvanise a 'Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia'."
Jakarta's 'Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia' held its inaugural public demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia (HI) traffic circle on 14 February. "If Kalimantan can do it, Jakarta can also do it," activist spokeswoman Tunggal Pawestri told the Jakarta Globe.
The Jakarta Globe's Pangeran Siahaan attended the demonstration, which he says was inspired by the courage, determination and principle on display in Palangkaraya and fuelled by the same spirit.
"Everybody," writes Siahaan, "has said that they’re fed up with the unlawful behavior of such organizations, but nothing had been done publicly to declare a war against violence and intolerance until the citizens of Palangkaraya stood up and their voices reached the people of Jakarta. Driven by the same spirit and anger caused by the government’s leniency towards violence, I joined the protest rally at the HI traffic circle. It was a peaceful event as the protesters unfurled banners and posters while chanting, 'Indonesia Damai! Tanpa FPI! Tanpa Kekerasan' ('Peace in Indonesia! Without FPI! Without Violence!')."
Siahaan despairs that when FPI militants disrupted the protest and began assaulting some of the protestors, the police chose to shepherd the protestors, rather than the attackers, away from the HI traffic circle, supposedly for safety reasons.
"What a bucket of nonsense," rails Siahaan, "because what’s the purpose of the police’s being there if not to prevent harm to the rally attendants?"
Vivi Widyawati, a coordinator with the "Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia" said the Jakarta rally was intended to widen opposition to the hardline group following the Dayaks’ 11 February protest at Palangkaraya airport.
. . . to Surabaya and beyond
And as Megawati Wijaya reports for Asia Times, opposition to the FPI is widening. "The anti-FPI movement spread to Surabaya, another major metropolitan area where people referring to themselves as 'Surabaya Residents Against Violence' held a similar rally on February 17. Although the group did not specifically refer to the FPI in its addresses promoting non-violence, yells of 'Indonesia without FPI, Indonesia without violence' could be heard from the gathered mass, according to local press reports."
In order to maintain momentum, Jakarta's "Movement for an FPI-free Indonesia" is planning to take the battle online using Twitter, blogging and other social media tools. Bhagavad Sambada, one of the movement's founders, is confident: "The snowball has rolled and it is getting bigger. The movement will be more widespread and will be unstoppable."
The FPI has slammed the movement as a "Western-funded plot".
-----
Related:
FPI files reports to police over hostile Palangkaraya welcome
Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/13/2012 11:54 AM
No love shown to the FPI
Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/15/2012
FPI and the Government: Best Friends?
by Calvin Michel Sidjaja, Jakarta Globe, 21 Feb 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Mexico: a tribute to Ciudad Juarez's angels
By Elizabeth Kendal
The following story is not a religious liberty issue per se; but it does demonstrate the great value of religious liberty. Though their city is wracked by drug-related violence, the teenagers in this story are free to witness for Christ. And it is because they are free to witness, and are not banned on the grounds that they might offend someone else's religious or irreligious sensitivities, they are undoubtedly making a difference.
This posting is my way of paying tribute to these remarkable young Christians. They are indeed Ciudad Juarez's angels.
--------------
On 18 February 2012, the BBC reported: "Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said murders in the country's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez, almost halved since hitting a record in 2010, when more than 3,000 people died."
See: Mexico drug wars: Murders down in Ciudad Juarez
BBC, 18 February 2012
Most of the violence plaguing Ciudad Juarez has been linked to a deadly war between two rival drug cartels -- the Sinaloa and the Juarez -- for control of the lucrative drug smuggling routes to the United States. Consequently, some analysts believe the reduction in violence "could mean that the Sinaloa cartel has succeeded in edging out its rivals from the Juarez cartel from the city." (emphasis mine)
According to the Mexican President, key to the fall in violence has been the government's success in creating jobs.
A Stratfor Intelligence report dated 24 January 2012 shows just how dramatically Ciudad Juarez's murder rate has fallen and how untypical this is for Mexico as a whole. Stratfor, reports: "violence in Mexico has persisted, though it seems to have shifted geographically, abating in some cities and worsening in others. For example, while Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, was once again Mexico's deadliest city in terms of gross numbers, the city's annual death toll reportedly dropped substantially from 3,111 in 2010 to 1,955 in 2011.
According to the BBC, not only did the murder rate in Ciudad Juarez drop by 45 percent percent between 2010 and 2011, but "the figures for the first six weeks of 2012 were even more promising, suggesting a 57 percent drop in homicides compared to the same time period in 2011".
While job creation has undoubtedly been significant and beneficial, analysts really need to factor in another variable -- one neither the BBC nor Stratfor mentioned at all. For in 2010, at what is now described as the peak of the crisis in Ciudad Juarez, something else other than jobs started appearing. For at that time, Ciudad Juarez also witnessed the emergence of angels.
Ciudad Juarez's Angels
Initially these angels started appearing in photographs being used to illustrate stories on horrific violence in Ciudad Juarez's escalating drug wars. While the presence of the angels was noted in the photo captions, the angels were never the subject of the article. In fact the angels were hardly ever mentioned at all.
See: Mexican drug cartels flood across borders
By Fabiola Moura, Washington, 25 September 2010
(caption: A woman dressed as an angel in a Ciudad Juarez square holds a sign that reads, ''Hitman, Christ loves you, repent.'' Photo: Reuters)
AND
Killings grow more gruesome as Mexican drug cartels try to out-shock
Associated Press, 10 Oct 2011
(caption: A young member of the Christian church Psalm 100 dressed as an angel holds a sign reading "Hitmen, believe and repent" while a woman throws a bucket of water on a puddle of blood at a crime scene on Saturday where a man was shot dead in Ciudad Juarez. Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters)
However, by late 2011 the media were beginning to realise that the story of Ciudad Juarez's angels was a story in itself. Here are a few of the best. If you are not aware of this story, the reports are truly inspirational reading while the video report by AFP is absolutely wonderful.
NY Times: 10-foot teen angels stand silent vigil in murder-plagued Juarez
By Rob Kerby, Senior Editor beliefnet.com, 10 November 2011
(includes Spanish-language video)
Angels Send Message of Peace to Juarez, Mexico
By John Burnett NPR, 19 Dec 2011
(includes 10 great photographs)
Video, 20 Dec 2011(youtube)
AFP: Angels take to Mexican streets to fight drug crime
As yet, not too many journalists have put the angels and the encouraging statistics in the same report. Here is one that does.
Mexico’s messenger angels amid the drug war violence
19 Feb 2012 By Myles Estey, a freelance writer based in Mexico.
Actually, I would like to go further than Estey and actually make a direct link between the appearance of the angels and the decline in violence. I believe we can confidently assert that these angels -- through their witness, their ministry and their prayers -- have undoubtedly had more to do with the improving security situation in Ciudad Juarez than most journalists would ever dare suggest.
May God continue to bless and protect them, and use them to bring spiritual awakening to Mexico.
The following story is not a religious liberty issue per se; but it does demonstrate the great value of religious liberty. Though their city is wracked by drug-related violence, the teenagers in this story are free to witness for Christ. And it is because they are free to witness, and are not banned on the grounds that they might offend someone else's religious or irreligious sensitivities, they are undoubtedly making a difference.
This posting is my way of paying tribute to these remarkable young Christians. They are indeed Ciudad Juarez's angels.
--------------
On 18 February 2012, the BBC reported: "Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said murders in the country's most violent city, Ciudad Juarez, almost halved since hitting a record in 2010, when more than 3,000 people died."
See: Mexico drug wars: Murders down in Ciudad Juarez
BBC, 18 February 2012
Most of the violence plaguing Ciudad Juarez has been linked to a deadly war between two rival drug cartels -- the Sinaloa and the Juarez -- for control of the lucrative drug smuggling routes to the United States. Consequently, some analysts believe the reduction in violence "could mean that the Sinaloa cartel has succeeded in edging out its rivals from the Juarez cartel from the city." (emphasis mine)
According to the Mexican President, key to the fall in violence has been the government's success in creating jobs.
A Stratfor Intelligence report dated 24 January 2012 shows just how dramatically Ciudad Juarez's murder rate has fallen and how untypical this is for Mexico as a whole. Stratfor, reports: "violence in Mexico has persisted, though it seems to have shifted geographically, abating in some cities and worsening in others. For example, while Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, was once again Mexico's deadliest city in terms of gross numbers, the city's annual death toll reportedly dropped substantially from 3,111 in 2010 to 1,955 in 2011.
According to the BBC, not only did the murder rate in Ciudad Juarez drop by 45 percent percent between 2010 and 2011, but "the figures for the first six weeks of 2012 were even more promising, suggesting a 57 percent drop in homicides compared to the same time period in 2011".
While job creation has undoubtedly been significant and beneficial, analysts really need to factor in another variable -- one neither the BBC nor Stratfor mentioned at all. For in 2010, at what is now described as the peak of the crisis in Ciudad Juarez, something else other than jobs started appearing. For at that time, Ciudad Juarez also witnessed the emergence of angels.
Ciudad Juarez's Angels
Initially these angels started appearing in photographs being used to illustrate stories on horrific violence in Ciudad Juarez's escalating drug wars. While the presence of the angels was noted in the photo captions, the angels were never the subject of the article. In fact the angels were hardly ever mentioned at all.
See: Mexican drug cartels flood across borders
By Fabiola Moura, Washington, 25 September 2010
(caption: A woman dressed as an angel in a Ciudad Juarez square holds a sign that reads, ''Hitman, Christ loves you, repent.'' Photo: Reuters)
AND
Killings grow more gruesome as Mexican drug cartels try to out-shock
Associated Press, 10 Oct 2011
(caption: A young member of the Christian church Psalm 100 dressed as an angel holds a sign reading "Hitmen, believe and repent" while a woman throws a bucket of water on a puddle of blood at a crime scene on Saturday where a man was shot dead in Ciudad Juarez. Jose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters)
However, by late 2011 the media were beginning to realise that the story of Ciudad Juarez's angels was a story in itself. Here are a few of the best. If you are not aware of this story, the reports are truly inspirational reading while the video report by AFP is absolutely wonderful.
NY Times: 10-foot teen angels stand silent vigil in murder-plagued Juarez
By Rob Kerby, Senior Editor beliefnet.com, 10 November 2011
(includes Spanish-language video)
Angels Send Message of Peace to Juarez, Mexico
By John Burnett NPR, 19 Dec 2011
(includes 10 great photographs)
Video, 20 Dec 2011(youtube)
AFP: Angels take to Mexican streets to fight drug crime
As yet, not too many journalists have put the angels and the encouraging statistics in the same report. Here is one that does.
Mexico’s messenger angels amid the drug war violence
19 Feb 2012 By Myles Estey, a freelance writer based in Mexico.
Actually, I would like to go further than Estey and actually make a direct link between the appearance of the angels and the decline in violence. I believe we can confidently assert that these angels -- through their witness, their ministry and their prayers -- have undoubtedly had more to do with the improving security situation in Ciudad Juarez than most journalists would ever dare suggest.
May God continue to bless and protect them, and use them to bring spiritual awakening to Mexico.