Mali rebels agree to sign preliminary peace deal: Algeria state media

13:30 - 13 May 2015

Fighters from the Tuareg separatist rebel group MNLA take shade under a tree in the desert near Tabankort, February 13, 2015. REUTERS/Souleymane Ag Anara

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Mali's Tuareg-led rebels have agreed to sign a preliminary peace deal, an accord the government already accepted as a step to ending decades of separatist fighting over the country's north, Algeria's state news agency APS said on Wednesday.

APS said the rebel alliance would sign up to the accord on Thursday in Algiers.

Mali's government in March signed up for the agreement brokered by Algeria and the United Nations, but Tuareg and Arab rebel groups, including the main groups, the MNLA and MAA, had said they needed more time.