BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali's Tuareg separatist group has said it will suspend its participation in the committee monitoring a peace agreement with the government and other groups until militias that overtook its designated land leave.

Mossa Ag Attaher, a spokesman for the main separatist group, the Coordination of Azawad Movements, said Monday that it will not participate in the Aug. 27 meeting to appoint members of the commission to oversee the accord.

Government-allied militias took over Anefis in northern Mali on Aug. 17, chasing the Tuareg separatists from the town. Ag Attaher said the separatists would not participate until the militias leave.

He said they would remain in Bamako, however, to participate in an emergency meeting convened by international mediators to find a solution to the worsening security situation in northern Mali.