Bilal Ag Acherif

Bilal Ag Acherif (بلال أغ الشريف) (born 1977 in Kidal Region, Mali, last name alternatively spelled Cherif) is the Secretary-General of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and president of a briefly independent Azawad.

He was president of Azawad from April to July of 2012 before the Malian Armed Forces recaptured many cities and Azawad collapsed.

Pre Presidency
In 1993, he left Mali for Libya to study political science and later returned in 2010.

Interim Presidency
On 6 April of 2012, he posted a statement to its website in which he declared the independence of Azawad from Mali. It was supported by Ansar Dine an Islamic organization from 2012-2017. This was not recognized by any nation or entity.

On May 26, 2012 he made a pact with Asnar Dine in which both would form an Islamic State.

On 26 June 2012, he was wounded in clashes between MNLA fighters and the Islamist Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa during the northern Mali conflict. According to an MNLA spokesperson, he was taken to Burkina Faso for medical care.

Post Presidency
In the months after his presidency he met with Cyril Vainer in Paris to discuss the Mali War.

In 2014, Bilal Ag Acherif took over the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA)'s presidency, until being succeeded by Alghabass Ag Intalla on December 16, 2016.