Mali: A prospect of peace?

Most people in the industrialised world have heard of Timbuktu, even if they could not find this ancient centre of civilisation on the map. In fact, it is in Mali, a West African country which is rapidly coming to terms with the modern world. In 1991 the people of Mali overthrew a military dictatorship; democratic elections were held; a free press is flourishing; the nation is struggling with the effects of an economic structural adjustment programme and inter-ethnic tensions which brought it to the brink of catastrophe