French President Emmanuel Macron warned Mali on Sunday in his interview with the JDD to bring back its 5,000 soldiers if political instability in the country tends towards radical Islamism.

It has about 5,100 French soldiers working in the five Sahel countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Mauritania. Operation Barkhane is their mission. This task began in 2013 after the intervention of France in Mali, where François Hollande was still the president. At the time, it was a question of helping to push back the jihadists who had invaded a part of West Africa but who subsequently led to a security crisis.

Macron, on Tuesday, denounced the coup d'état twice in Mali in just nine months. The latest concerns the arrest of interim president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane. Colonel Assimi GoÏta, considered the strongman of the country, was the one responsible.

Indeed, the French president told Bah Ndaw that he would withdraw his soldiers if Mali tries to turn to Islamist radicalisation. "I would not stay by the side of a country where there is no democratic legitimacy or transition," he added. Thus, an observation of the local circumstances prompted him to make such a statement.

Macron confirmed that he will not leave his expatriates in radical Islamism. "There is this temptation today in Mali. But if it goes that way, I will withdraw," he warned.

Santie

Photo Credit : Financial Times

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