Paris, Feb 1 (AFP/APP):France said Tuesday it would decide with its EU partners by mid-February on the future of the French-led anti-jihadist force in Mali after the ruling junta expelled Paris’ ambassador.
French ambassador Joel Meyer was told on Monday to leave Mali within 72 hours in the latest souring of ties between the France and its former colony, which has been racked by an Islamist insurgency.
The Bamako authorities said they were ordering the envoy out after “hostile” comments by French officials, notably Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had described the new Malian regime as “illegitimate”.
Even after recent drawdowns, France has some 4,000 troops deployed across the Sahel region, half of them in Mali, in the Barkhane operation to fight Islamist jihadists.
As it scales back Barkhane, Paris is looking to a European force known as Takuba to help shoulder some of the pressure.
“It is clear that the situation can’t go on like this,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal told Franceinfo radio Tuesday.
He said Paris and its partners in the Takuba special forces mission would work out “between now and mid-February” any changes to the deployment in Mali.
– ‘Illegitimacy’ –
Rebel officers led a coup in August 2020 that toppled Mali’s elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was facing angry protests at failures to stem the jihadists.
The following May, the junta pushed out a civilian-led government appointed to oversee a transition period and named strongman Colonel Assimi Goita as interim president.
Tensions had already been rising after President Emmanuel Macron lashed out at the junta’s failure to stick to a timetable for a return to civilian rule.
But the expulsion of Paris’ envoy appears to have been triggered by Le Drian’s recent comments to the French media.
The minister also expressed alarm at the junta’s reported decision to hire mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which the Malian authorities deny.
Wagner’s actions “disrupt the entire military system present in Mali”, Le Drian added, adding that the “fight against terrorism must continue, but no doubt under different conditions”.
Fifty-three French soldiers have been killed in the nine-year deployment in the Sahel region, 48 of them in Mali.
France wants to halve Barkhane troop numbers by the summer of 2023, with the Takuba force taking up some of the slack by training and fighting alongside Malian units.
The strategy is important to Macron as he pushes for autonomous EU defence capabilities, but the junta’s behaviour now raises questions as to whether the plan remains viable.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
