Tuareg rebels declare northern Mali independence Tuareg-led rebels in Mali have officially declared the independence of the northern territory they call Azawad, according to a statement on the group's website. Capitalising on the disruption in the southern capital Bamako following a coup on March 22, nomadic rebels seized the largely desert zone, which covers an area larger than France and covers the entire northern part of Mali, including historic population centres such as the ancient trading post of Timbuktu. On Friday, the MNLA secretary-general Billal Ag Acherif posted a statement online, datelined in the town of Gao, which along with two other regional centres was captured during a swift rebel advance over the past week. The statement read: "The Executive Committee of the MNLA calls on the entire international community to immediately recognise, in a spirit of justice and peace, the independent state of Azawad." There has historically been little sign of international support for the independence of Azawad, which has been a goal of the Tuareg people since Mali won its own independence from France. The group have been supported by Islamist groups with loose ties to local al Qaeda agents and whose aim, rather than secession, is to impose Islamic sharia law across the whole of the moderate Muslim state.