· Malian foreign minister accused France in meddling with the politics in the Sahel region to serve its vested interests
· In a hard – hitting statement, the minister said that France was involved in destabilizing the country earlier and pointed out its involvement in supporting coups in the past
· The minister said that France had paid lip service to defending democracy in other countries in the region by installing heads of state who had danced to their tunes
Malian foreign minister accused France of meddling with the politics in the Sahel region to serve its vested interests.
In a hard – hitting statement, the minister said that France was involved in destabilizing the country earlier and pointed out its involvement in supporting coups in the past. The minister said that France had paid lip service to defending democracy in other countries in the region by installing heads of state who had danced to their tunes.
Relations between France and its former colony had taken a dip since the army took power in Bamako in August 2020.France has been reorganizing its military presence in Mali. The number of French troops in the Sahel, which stood at more than 5,000 last summer, has fallen. Paris is now planning to prune its military presence between 2,500 to 3,000 troops by 2023.
Mali had reacted very sharply against sanctions from ECOWAS that included closing borders with Mali and placing the country under embargo. The military junta was earlier committed to hold the civic elections in February but postponed that decision. Now, it claims that the elections can be held only after five years since the country has been deeply stressed on account of the Jihadist’s violence.
