This follows the insurgents blockading Kayes  Mali's western gateway  and Nioro du Sahel on the border with Mauritania  the base of the Chérif of Nioro  Bouyé Haïdara  an influential Sufi leader in Mali and much of Mauritania...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     There are fears that not even Mali's three most influential religious leaders may be able to stop the tide  be it the widely respected and normally reserved Cheik Chérif Ousmane Haidara  who released a pessimistic video in December; the firebrand imam Mahmoud Dicko; or the discreet and wealthy businessman and political broker Mohamed Ould Hamahoulah  who also goes by Bouyé Haïdara but is universally known as Chérif de Nioro (AC Vol 62 No 14  Paris makes up with the junta)...
 There are fears that not even Mali's three most influential religious leaders may be able to stop the tide  be it the widely respected and normally reserved Cheik Chérif Ousmane Haidara  who released a pessimistic video in December; the firebrand imam Mahmoud Dicko; or the discreet and wealthy businessman and political broker Mohamed Ould Hamahoulah  who also goes by Bouyé Haïdara but is universally known as Chérif de Nioro (AC Vol 62 No 14  Paris makes up with the junta)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Neither must he fail to listen to discreet messages from a small town on the border with Mauritania  Nioro du Sahel  home to the highly influential imam and wealthy businessman Mohamed Ould Bouyé Haidara  aka the Chérif de Nioro...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 61 No 16 | 
            - MALI
- ECOWAS
	     New Finance Minister Abdoulaye Daffé is close to the Chérif of Nioro  Mohamed Ould Bouyé Haïdara  the Sufi leader who backed the main opposition candidate Soumaïla Cissé in the 2018 election (AC Vol 59 No 16  Court in the act)...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Although he pursues a more purist expression of the faith  he maintains good relations with the Chérif of Nioro  Mohamed Ould Bouyé Haïdara  probably the most influential figure in traditional Malian Sufi Islam...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Diarra has earned the endorsement of Mali's most influential religious leader  the Chérif of Nioro  Bouyé Haïdara  another disappointed former IBK supporter...