Τα δάκρυα της Αφρικής

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day youll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And youll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

(The Tuareg have been fighting a separatist war in the north-east of Mali for years, with major outbreaks of fighting between 1990 and 1995 then from 2007 to 2009. They are a nomadic people, wandering across the desert regions of Algeria, Libya, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, largely ignoring national borders. Colonel Gadaffi sponsored that second uprising, intending to destabilise the government in Bamako.

After it was defeated, many of the rebels fled to Libya, where they helped shore up the Gadaffi regime. When Gadaffi fell, between 2,000 and 4,000 people – depending whose account you believe – fled across the border into the mountains of north-eastern Mali, laden with arms and cash.)

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

(There were a lot of tears in Libreville on Sunday. There were the tears of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, overwhelmed by having missed the decisive penalty in Gabon’s shootout defeat to Maliand there were the tears of Seydou Keita as he used his side’s progress to the semi-final for the first time in 10 years to highlight the crisis overwhelming his country.

“I’m appealing to the people to stop,” Keita said. “It’s not normal, we don’t do that. We need peace, we are all Malians. The president of the republic needs to do the most he can to stop it. We are celebrating our win but at the same time we feel very sad. There is a sadness among the players.”)

Theres so many different worlds
So many differents suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

(The NMLA has attacked towns in the region, and at least 20 people were killed in fighting around Timbuktu at the weekend. It’s estimated 15,000 Malians have fled into neighbouring Niger and Mauritania, while rioting in Bamako – in protest at the army’s inability to stop the NMLA – has led several Tuarag to flee the capital for fear of reprisals.)

Now the suns gone to hell
And the moons riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But its written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
Were fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

(Πηγή: “Africa Cup of Nations 2012: Mali’s heroes weep for a nation at war” / Guardian)