Ex-minister named head of Mali reconciliation committee

Bamako (AFP) - A former minister and member of the opposition was named head of Mali's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission as the west African country looks to strengthen a peace accord, a statement said.

Ousmane Oumarou Sidibe, a 60-year-old academic who has worked at the University of Bamako since 2006, was named to the post the previous day, a government statement said.

Sidibe held several ministerial posts between 1993 and 2000, and is a member of the URD, one of Mali's main opposition parties.

The commission, known by its French acronym CVJR, was established last year to investigate violence and abuses committed in the country over a period of more than 50 years, from Mali's independence from French rule in 1960 to 2013.

Along with a peace deal known as the Algiers Accord, it aims to bring stability to the country, which has seen several Tuareg uprisings since the 1960s and has been a sanctuary for Islamist fighters linked to Al-Qaeda.