Mouvement National de Libération de l'Azawad - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Thurston, Alexander
Leiden
Brill
(769 words)
The Mouvement National de Libération de l'Azawad (National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, MNLA) was the dominant Tuareg-led rebel group in the first four months of the rebellio of northern Mali in 2012, and it remains a major political faction in northern Mali at the time of writing. The MNLA drew on the history of rebellions in northern Mali in 1963, 1990, and 2006, which were part of the separatist movement in North Africa. More immediately, the MNLA represented the confluence of three constituencies. First, there was