ALGIERS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Malian government and Tuareg rebels agreed on Tuesday to start implementing an Algerian-brokered peace deal for the northeast desert region of Kidal, Algerian official news agency APS said. The agreement sets a timetable for disarmament of the rebels, who are seeking greater autonomy for the region, and follows an initial peace accord struck last July, the agency reported. No details as to dates about disarming were given. The deal was signed in a ceremony in Algiers by Mali's Territorial Administration Minister Kafougouna Kone and Ahmed Ag Bide of the rebel Democratic Alliance for Change. The light-skinned, nomadic Tuareg gunmen attacked army camps in the Saharan trading town of Kidal in May 2006, looting vehicles and arms before retreating to mountains near the Algerian border, raising fears of a full-scale desert rebellion. Malian Tuareg leaders launched revolts from Kidal in the 1960s and 1990s demanding greater freedom from a black African-dominated government. Peace agreements after the 1990s rebellion went some way towards addressing Tuareg demands, with former fighters integrated into the army and Tuareg politicians winning more responsibility. But under-investment and widespread unemployment have fuelled resentment in a region awash with arms where banditry is rife, largely beyond the control of a government sitting more than 1,000 km (600 miles) away in the capital Bamako.
