Mahmoud Dicko
{{Short description|Malian imam and political leader (born c. 1954)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
Mahmoud Dicko ({{langx|ar|محمود ديكو}}; born around 1954{{Cite web|date=9 September 2019|title=Mali : l'influent et virulent imam Mahmoud Dicko, lance son mouvement politique|url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/societe-africaine/mali-l-influent-et-virulent-imam-mahmoud-dicko-lance-son-mouvement-politique_3609581.html|access-date=20 August 2020|website=France Info|language=fr}}) is a Malian Salafi imam from the Tombouctou Region who chaired the High Islamic Council of Mali (Haut Conseil islamique malien, HCIM) from January 2008 to April 2019.{{Cite web|date=23 December 2013|title=Mali : à l'école du wahhabisme|url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/135160/politique/mali-l-cole-du-wahhabisme/|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Jeune Afrique|language=fr-FR}}
A politico-religious leader considered in 2020 one of the most influential people in Mali, though he has never run for public office,{{Cite web|last=Ahougnon|first=Servan|date=19 June 2020|title=Mahmoud Dicko: un funambule sur une corde tendue entre religion et politique|url=https://www.agenceecofin.com/grand-format/1906-77683-mahmoud-dicko-un-funambule-sur-une-corde-tendue-entre-religion-et-politique|access-date=26 August 2020|publisher=Agence Ecofin|language=fr-fr}} Dicko served as mediator between the Malian government and jihadist groups in the north of the country. After supporting Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in the 2013 election, he started supporting the opposition in 2017.
On 7 September 2019, he started his own movement called Coordination of Movements, Associations and Sympathizers (Coordination des Mouvements, Associations et Sympathisants, CMAS). In 2019 and 2020, he called for several important demonstrations against President Keïta.
Biography
Dicko is Fulani.{{Cite web|title=Mali in crisis: The fight between the Dogon and Fulani|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefield/2019/08/mali-crisis-fight-dogon-fulani-190822125317990.html|access-date=20 August 2020|website=www.aljazeera.com}} A former Arabic professor, trained in Saudi Arabia and Mauritania,{{Cite news|date=26 June 2020|title=Mali : comment l'imam Mahmoud Dicko est devenu la figure de proue de l'opposition|language=fr|work=Le Monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2020/06/26/mali-comment-l-imam-mahmoud-dicko-est-devenu-la-figure-de-proue-de-l-opposition_6044326_3212.html|access-date=20 August 2020}} Dicko became imam of the Salam mosque of Badalabougou in the early 1980s. A quietist Salafi, he considers himself a Sunni and not a Wahhabite.{{Cite web|last=Macé|first=Célian|date=4 June 2020|title=Mali : Mahmoud Dicko, l'imam qui défie le président IBK|url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2020/06/04/mali-mahmoud-dicko-l-imam-qui-defie-le-president-ibk_1790277|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Libération|language=fr}} He was secretary general of the Malian Association for the Unity and Progress of Islam (Association Malienne pour l’Unité et la Progrès de l’Islam; AMUPI).{{Cite journal|last1=Boubou Cissé|last2=Joseph Brunet Jailly|last3=Gilles Holder|date=28 October 2012|title=Le Haut Conseil Islamique du Mali : un organe partisan au service de l'islam wahhabite ?|url=https://www.maliweb.net/societe/le-haut-conseil-islamique-du-mali-un-organe-partisan-au-service-de-lislam-wahhabite-3-101655.html|website=journaldumali.com|language=fr|access-date=1 June 2018}}.
Dicko rejects jihad and the most violent rules of Sharia law.{{Cite web|last=Golliau|first=Catherine|date=11 May 2017|title=Ces islams d'Afrique que l'Occident ne veut pas voir|url=https://www.lepoint.fr/culture/ces-islams-d-afrique-que-l-occident-ne-veut-pas-voir-11-05-2017-2126442_3.php|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Le Point|language=fr}} He also views Mali's pre-Islamic traditions as important.
In 2009, he opposed the draft personal and family code proposed by the government and with the mobilization of his followers succeeded in eliminating provisions of the code that were favorable to women's rights.{{Cite web|last=Gonin|first=Jean-Marc|date=3 July 2020|title=Mali, le pouvoir assiégé par la rue|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/mali-le-pouvoir-assiege-par-la-rue-20200703|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Le Figaro|language=fr}} In 2012, during the Mali War, he took a stand in favor of dialogue with Islamists and met with Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of Ansar Dine. In 2013, he stated that the intervention of the French army in Mali, in support of the Malian army against armed jihadist groups, was not an aggression against Islam, saying that France had come to the aid of a people in distress, who had been abandoned by Muslim countries to their own fate.{{Cite web|last=Newmedia|first=R. T. L.|title=Mali: l'intervention française "n'est pas une agression contre l'islam"|url=https://www.rtl.be/info/monde/international/mali-l-intervention-francaise-n-est-pas-une-agression-contre-l-islam--338226.aspx|access-date=20 August 2020|website=RTL Info|date=22 January 2013 |language=fr}} During the 2013 Malian presidential election, he supported the candidacy of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.{{Cite news|date=9 April 2019|title=Au Mali, la contestation a pris le visage de l'islam politique|language=fr|work=Le Monde|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2019/04/09/au-mali-la-contestation-a-pris-le-visage-de-l-islam-politique_5448004_3212.html|access-date=20 August 2020}}
In November 2015, after a terrorist attack on a Bamako hotel, Dicko stated on VOA that the terrorists were sent by God to punish Mali for the promotion of homosexuality, which had been imported from the West.{{Cite news|date=16 December 2015|title=Au Mali, l'imam Dicko part en campagne contre les homosexuels|language=fr|work=Le Monde.fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/12/16/au-mali-l-imam-dicko-part-en-campagne-contre-les-homosexuels_4833188_3212.html|access-date=20 August 2020}} In December 2015, at the Grand Mosque of Bamako, he stated that jihadism was a creation of the West and of France with the goal of "recolonizing Mali".{{Cite web|last=Macé|first=Célian|date=2 November 2016|title=Sahel : les sables très mouvants du jihadisme|url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/11/02/sahel-les-sables-tres-mouvants-du-jihadisme_1525747|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Libération|language=fr}}
On 30 October 2016, Dicko announced that he had received, after eight months of discussions, a letter from Iyad Ag Ghaly in which Ag Ghaly announced "the end of attacks throughout the territory".{{Cite web|last=Macé|first=Célian|date=30 October 2016|title=Mali: le chef du groupe jihadiste Ansar ed-Dine annonce "l'arrêt des attaques"|url=https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2016/10/30/mali-le-chef-du-groupe-jihadiste-ansar-ed-dine-annonce-l-arret-des-attaques_1525295|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Libération.fr|language=fr}}{{Cite web|date=1 November 2016|title=Cessez-le-feu au nord du Mali: la lettre très commentée d'Iyad Ag Ghaly|url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20161101-mali-ansar-dine-gahly-menaka-msa-azawad|access-date=20 August 2020|website=RFI|language=fr}} But Ansar Dine denied these statements on 2 November.{{Cite web|date=2 November 2016|title=Au Mali, Ansar Dine dément avoir prononcé un cessez-le-feu|url=https://www.boursorama.com/actualites/au-mali-ansar-dine-dement-avoir-prononce-un-cessez-le-feu-b08622a35a8ef9e129eccb4763ba6953|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Reuters, via Boursorama|language=fr}}
After having supported Keïta, Dicko moved to the opposition around the end of 2017. At his urging, 30,000-50,000 people demonstrated against the government in Bamako on 5 April 2019. On 7 September 2019, as others speculated about his presidential ambitions, he launched CMAS, a political movement that follows his Islamist line. As his influence grew, some analysts viewed him as a contender to win Mali's presidency in the 2023 election.
In June 2020, the CMAS united with the 5 June Movement/Gathering of Patriotic Forces (Mouvement du 5 juin / Rassemblement des Forces Patriotiques, M5-RFP). According to Aly Tounkara's analysis, "Many opponents who would have had no chance of gaining power have decided to rely on the imam and his thousands of followers, giving him great political power".{{Cite web|date=11 July 2020|title=Manifestations au Mali : qui est Mahmoud Dicko, l'imam rigoriste qui fait trembler le pouvoir ?|url=https://www.france24.com/fr/20200711-manifestations-au-mali-qui-est-mahmoud-dicko-l-imam-rigoriste-qui-fait-trembler-le-pouvoir|access-date=20 August 2020|website=France 24|language=fr}} On 19 June 2020, he organized a demonstration of tens of thousands of faithful and supporters to ask the President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, to resign.{{Cite news|date=20 June 2020|title=Au Mali, une coalition d'opposants réclame la démission du président IBK sur fond de crise sociale|language=fr|work=Le Monde.fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2020/06/20/mali-une-coalition-d-opposants-reclame-la-demission-du-president-ibk-sur-fond-de-crise-sociale_6043529_3212.html|access-date=20 August 2020}} On 10 July, during the third day of mobilization, clashes occurred, causing several deaths; leaders of the opposition coalition were arrested and then released.{{Cite web|title=Les leaders de la contestation malienne relâchés, selon leurs avocats|url=https://www.liberation.fr/direct/element/les-leaders-de-la-contestation-malienne-relaches-selon-leurs-avocats_116292/|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Libération.fr|language=fr}}
On 18 August, during a coup d'état, Keïta and the Prime Minister, Boubou Cissé, were arrested by a military garrison.{{Cite web|date=18 August 2020|title=Coup d'État au Mali : Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta a été arrêté – Jeune Afrique|url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1030873/politique/coup-detat-au-mali-ibrahim-boubacar-keita-a-ete-arrete/|access-date=20 August 2020|website=JeuneAfrique.com|language=fr-FR}} A few hours later, the President of the Republic, still detained by the army in a military camp, announced his resignation as well as the dissolution of the government and of the Parliament.{{Cite web|last=Bourse|first=Zone|title=Mali-Démission du président Keita après la mutinerie militaire|url=https://www.zonebourse.com/actualite-bourse/Mali-Demission-du-president-Keita-apres-la-mutinerie-militaire--31140968/|access-date=20 August 2020|website=Reuters, via www.zonebourse.com|date=19 August 2020 |language=fr}} On 19 August, Dicko announced that he was leaving politics.{{cite news |title=After meeting Mali mutineers, protest leader Dicko to step back from politics |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mali-security-dicko/after-meeting-mali-mutineers-protest-leader-dicko-to-step-back-from-politics-idUSKCN25F2LA |newspaper=Reuters |date=19 August 2020 |access-date=28 August 2020}}{{Cite web|title=Key Mali protest leader withdraws from politics after meeting mutineers|url=https://www.trtworld.com/africa/key-mali-protest-leader-withdraws-from-politics-after-meeting-mutineers-39040|access-date=26 August 2020|website=TRT World|language=en}} Nevertheless, he campaigned actively against the new constitution put to a referendum in June 2023.{{cite news |last1=Ahmed |first1=Baba |title=Mali's military junta holds referendum on new constitution it calls a step toward new elections |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malis-military-junta-holds-referendum-new-constitution-calls-100176543 |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=ABC News |agency=Associated Press |date=18 June 2023}}
On February 17, 2024, supporters of Imam Mahmoud Dicko created Synergy of Action for Mali, a coalition of parties and associations opposing the Malian junta.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |title=Afrique Mali: une coalition d'opposition à la junte voit le jour avec des partisans de l'imam Dicko|url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20240218-mali-une-coalition-d-opposition-%C3%A0-la-junte-voit-le-jour-avec-des-partisans-de-l-imam-dicko |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=Radio France International |agency=RFI|date=18 February 2024}}
On March 6, 2024, the Malian government dissolved the Association called “Coordination of Movements, Associations and Sympathizers of Imam Mahmoud Dicko” (CMAS).{{cite news |last1=Atcha |first1=Marturin |title=Mali : le gouvernement dissout l’association de l’Imam Mahmoud Dicko|url=https://www.afrique-sur7.ci/mali-le-gouvernement-dissout-lassociation-de-limam-mahmoud-dicko |access-date=7 March 2024 |work=Afrique sur 7 |agency=Afrique sur 7|date=6 March 2024}} The coordinator of this association, Youssouf Daba Diawara, was arrested in July 2024.{{cite news |author=AFP |title=Arrestation d'un proche du célèbre imam malien Mahmoud Dicko|url=http://www.voaafrique.com/amp/mali-arrestation-d-un-proche-du-c%25C3%25A9l%25C3%25A8bre-imam-dicko/7696721.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Voa Afrique |agency=Voa Afrique|date=14 July 2024}}