BAMAKO, July 17, 2008 (AFP) - Representatives from the Malian government and Tuareg rebels were in Algiers Thursday for new talks to revive the peace process in northern Mali, sources close to Algerian mediators said.

The meeting comes after a recent flare-up in violence between the army and the rebels that threatens the 2006 peace accord brokered by Algeria.

The Tuareg rebels are currently holding 92 Malian soldiers hostage in the Sahara, according to a member of the committee appointed to oversee the implementation of the Algiers accords.

Bamako is demanding the immediate release of the soldiers and the return of all military equipment seized in recent clashes.

For their part, the Tuareg rebels want Bamako to ease its military presence in northern Mali. They are also demanding that the Malian head of the committee is replaced by an Algerian mediator.

The Tuareg are a nomadic people who have roamed the southern Sahara for centuries. They have staged uprisings in recent years in both Mali and neighbouring Niger claiming autonomy for their traditional homeland.

Under the terms of the 2006 peace agreements the Tuaregs were to give up their claim for regional autonomy, while the Malian government was to speed up development in the northern regions.