The twinning Angers-Bamako could be the hostage of the Malian conflict

The conflict between Mali's armed forces to islamist rebels could stop the projects developped in the twinning of Angers and Bamako. Next week in Angers, a meeting was planned to register candidacies for a staying in the Malian capital in 2014. The object is an exchange of youngs of Angers and Bamako in 2013 and 2014. the Angevins are due to go there in 2014. 

The twining between the two cities was launched in 1974. In 1985, Angers decided to dedicate 0,5% of its resources to cooperation and a house for the partnership house was opened in Bamako in 1997. The main fields of Angers cooperation are related to culture, health, water and waste treatment throughout non profitable organizations.

Given the security problems for Western citizens and among them French people, the imple-mentation of the project could be postponed if the Malian conflict was due to go on. But it could also re-direct in in unforeseen fields like the assistance of Angers to possible Bamakians victims of the conflict. 

The situation of the country will surely have echo in Angers who hosts a Malian community. That one was badly surprised laearning that a Malian writer, Moussa Ag Assarid, may have joined rebels forces in the Northern Mali suspected to have links with islamists warriors.