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Mali's latest crisis: What do we know?
By Amaury Hauchard
Bamako (AFP) May 28, 2021

France threatens to pull troops out of Mali
Paris (AFP) May 29, 2021 - President Emmanuel Macron warned in comments published Sunday that France will pull its troops out of Mali if it lurches towards radical Islamism following the second coup in nine months.

France has around 5,100 troops in the region under its so-called Barkhane operation which spans five countries in the Sahel -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The mission, headquartered in Chad, was launched after France intervened to fend off a jihadist advance in Mali in 2013.

On Tuesday France and the European Union denounced an "unacceptable coup d'etat" after Mali's interim president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane were detained and stripped of their powers in what is being seen as the country's second coup in less than a year.

Macron said he had told Ndaw that France will withdraw its troops if Mali turns towards radical Islamism.

"Radical Islamism in Mali with our soldiers there? Never," he told the weekly newspaper The Journal du Dimanche.

"There is this temptation today in Mali. But if it goes in that direction, I will withdraw," he warned in comments made during a trip to Rwanda and South Africa. Macron flew home to Paris on Saturday.

The French president added that he had given a message to West African leaders that they could not back a country "where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition."

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has invited Mali's junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita to Ghana's capital Accra for "consultations" ahead of an extraordinary summit on Sunday devoted to Mali.

Goita flew to Accra on Saturday, military and airport sources said.

He had served as vice president since leading a coup last August that ousted the democratically elected president, with the roles of president and prime minister held by civilians after pressure from ECOWAS, which has served as a mediator.

However, the transitional leaders were detained Monday before being released on Thursday, with the military saying they had resigned.

The twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uproar and marked the second apparent coup within a year in the Sahel country.

Mali's constitutional court completed Goita's rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president.

With the junta going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges.

Macron, in his comments published Sunday, warned that if Africa's development fails then Europe "will pay dearly in terms of migration".

He stressed the need to "invest massively" adding that the international community must also erase some of the continent's debt burden "to help Africans build their future."

Malian Colonel Assimi Goita triggered a diplomatic storm this week by detaining the war-torn Sahel state's president and prime minister and stripping them of their powers.

It marked the second apparent military coup in Mali within one year.

President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane had led a caretaker government installed after military officers deposed elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18.

- What has happened? -

After the August coup, Mali's military handed power to a nominally civilian interim government under the threat of international sanctions.

This government pledged to pave the way to returning civilian rule, saying it would stage elections within 18 months.

But the army retained tight control. Coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita was appointed interim vice president.

On Monday, the interim government announced a ministerial reshuffle amid mounting criticism of the military's influence on state affairs.

The defence and security ministers -- who were both leaders of the August coup -- were set to be replaced as part of the reshuffle.

About two hours after the government announced the reshuffle, soldiers arrested President Ndaw, Prime Minister Ouane, and several other senior officials.

The military released them on Thursday after having stripped them of their powers.

- Why did this happen? -

Baba Cisse, a special advisor to Goita, pointed to a "deep division" with Ndaw.

He accused him -- but without offering evidence -- of interfering with election preparations and of blocking the arrest of officials suspected of corruption.

But the government reshuffle seems to be the underlying motive.

Cisse, without specifying details, said the interim government had chosen "dismissals or abusive changes".

- Who runs Mali? -

Mali's military has promised to appoint a new president and new interim government.

Goita's office said on Thursday that the coup leader would lead the country in the meantime, however.

The process to appoint a new government nonetheless appears underway. Officials from Malian political parties and civil society have been meeting army officers since Monday.

The opposition M5 movement, which spearheaded protests against Keita last year, has been sidelined since the August coup.

However, M5 cadre Choguel Kokalla Maiga is believed to be in the running to become the new prime minister in the new government.

- How have Malians reacted? -

Malians, for the most part, have wearily accepted the military ouster of the president and prime minister.

Calls to protest have met with almost no response. The Journal du Mali, a leading newspaper, said in an editorial on Thursday that "nothing has changed".

Much of the country's divided political class has also adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Boubacar Haidara, a researcher at France's Bordeaux Montaigne University, said the army would win popular support for the rest of the transition period if it appointed an M5 member to government.

- What are the consequences? -

The United Nations, European Union, African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United States and Britain all condemned the army's arrest of the president and prime minister.

Washington also announced that it will end its military aid to Mali. Both the US and the former colonial power France have also threatened sanctions.

But Mali's neighbours are concerned about destabilising an already fragile country, where a brutal jihadist conflict has raged since 2012.

ECOWAS sent a mediation mission to Mali's capital Bamako this week, but it left without making a statement.

The 15-nation West Africa bloc, whose sanctions helped to push the junta to form the interim government, is also due to hold a summit on Mali on Sunday.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank said on Thursday that Mali's military could allay international concerns by appointing a prime minister from the M5 movement.


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The UN Security Council on Friday extended for one year the arms embargo imposed on South Sudan since 2018, with a clause providing for a review of its relevance in April 2022. Written by the United States, the draft resolution extending the embargo until May 31, 2022 was adopted by 13 votes in favor on the 15-member panel, according to diplomats. India and Kenya abstained. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have long called for the renewal of the arms embargo. It is "essential for ... read more

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