Clearly there are a number of sides active in the north. There has been a civil war off and on with Tuaregs for many years. Some of the factions currently engaged in activities in the north are Tuareg and militant and might identify themselves, but others are not and others are willing to speak with Bamako, mediated by their neighbours.
The problem with focusing this as a jihadi terrorist sort of mission is that you give them too much credit. They can say what they want.
Being a religious person, I know many religious people who make quite grandiose claims. They're not necessarily true. Fundamentally, an insurgency or any kind of group active in a territory depends on the goodwill, or at least the passive support, of the local population. That's also true in northern Africa, whether it's Somalia, Tunisia, or elsewhere.
What you need to do, in my view, is to create as many of the conditions as possible to isolate those who have this foreign intrusion sort of jihadi apocalyptic approach and say that's not in the best interests of Mali. And Malians, no matter who they are, will say that's not in their best interests.
In Iraq—