Macron withdraws his forces and leaves Mali in the custody of jihadists and Russian mercenaries

London - The “Times” newspaper published a report prepared by Richard Aschton and Jane Flanagan on the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw the remaining forces from Mali, as he is abandoning them to “jihadists and Putin’s mercenaries.”

The report stated that France is completing the largest anti-terror operation that has been going on for several years, leaving behind large swaths of desert for jihadists and Russian mercenaries. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian hinted that thousands of soldiers would leave as the official announcement would be madeIn recent days, as a result of the growing feud between Paris and its old colony. 

British military sources said that British forces operating within peacekeeping units would be vulnerable to jihadist attacks. Thousands of French soldiers have been involved in confrontations with fighters belonging to al-Qaeda and the "Islamic State" since 2013, after they tried to control the capital, Bamako. Despite multiple international efforts and the United Nations, local and foreign forces were unable to control the violence that spread to nearby countries, which led to the killing of thousands and the displacement of millions. A Frenchman was killed along with nine people in an attack on the national park in Benin a week ago, as the jihadists moved from the south towards the beach. France responded with air strikes that killed 40 fighters believed to be responsible.

While violence has increased, anti-French sentiment is on the rise and two successive coups in Mali have affected diplomatic relations. The ruling military junta angered France when it asked for help from the Russian security contractor Wagner - the mercenary company that sent its fighters to African countries and is linked to the Kremlin, while at the same time the military postponed the elections.

The military expelled a small Danish force that they said had come to Mali uninvited, and they demanded that France keep its colonial tendencies to itself. On Monday, France held crucial talks with its European allies after the expulsion of the French ambassadorfrom Mali last month. Le Drian later told French Channel 5 that the French forces participating in Operation Barkhane would be transferred to Mali's neighbours. Half of them work in the Sahel. "If conditions continue so that we cannot move in Mali, we will continue to fight terrorism in the countries close to Mali," he said, "The president wants us to reorganize and we will not leave, but we are reorganizing ourselves and making sure that we continue to fight terrorism."

He said that the number of Wagner mercenaries today reaches 1,000 in Mali. This is incompatible with the French presence in Mali, he says, adding that the mercenaries' declared goal is "to protect the military junta." Diplomats said France's announcement of the withdrawal of French troops would come out early in the week and follow Macron's plan to reduce the number of troops from 5,000 to 3,000 and leave 1,000 last year. France is running a European mission group that may leave if the French leave. There is a United Nations peacekeeping force with a capacity of 13,000 soldiers, including 300 British soldiers in Mali. Last year, the British participated in a military operation alongside the Malian forces, in which two jihadists were killed. A British military source who contributed to the peacekeeping operations known as MINUSMA said that the departure of the French means difficulties in confronting the "Islamic State" organization in the Greater Sahara and the Group of Islam and Muslims. The British Ministry of Defense is looking into the fate of 4 Chinook helicopters in Operation Barkhane, which will not be needed in the event of the French exit from Mali, and can be transferred to the international peacekeeping forces. A British source said: "We have strongly advised the Malian government not to cooperate with Wagner. 

Wagner has not been successful in other parts of Africa and is frankly exploiting the limited wealth of the countries in which it operates.” Cameron Hudson, a former US State Department official, said the withdrawal of French forces 100 days after the Wagner deployment appeared to be a "strategic blow to the West". He may have led the United Nations to the conclusion that its mission in Mali could not be sustained. In an analysis written by Charles Bremer, the newspaper said that the near withdrawal of French forces from Mali is a humiliating end to the longest military operation since the end of the Algerian war in 1952. He said that the bitterness due to the French military and economic intervention in its former colonies in West Africa or its back garden led to the rejection of Operation Barkhane. 

Francois Hollande announced the operation in 2014 after the killing of 53 French soldiers, but the French government admitted that the operation had reached a dead end. Hence, Macron decided to minimize his losses due to the actions of the ruling military junta, the emergence of Russian mercenaries, and anti-French sentiment even among the French-speaking elite. Paris rejects the comparison between the withdrawal of its forces and the withdrawal of US forces from Kabul, saying that it will continue to fight terrorism from Chad and perhaps from Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania. Macron will decide the fate of Operation Takuba, a contingent of 800 soldiers from the European Union. It is not clear if they will remain after the departure of the French. 

The withdrawal will also leave questions about the fate of the UN peacekeepers who remain unable to confront the jihadists. European units, 300 British and 1,000 German soldiers, depend on French logistical support. Macron's rivals in the upcoming elections are using interference in Mali as a weapon to talk about his failure in the war, his being dragged into the quagmire, his losing the information war, and his inability to confront a bully and corrupt regime. "Our soldiers are dying for a country to insult us," said Eric Zemmour, the anti-Islam presidential candidate.

Rwanda: the alleged perpetrators of the attack of April 6, 1994 are free

Rose Kabuye, former guerrilla leader, now Rwandan President Paul Kagame's chief of protocol, charged by a French court with "complicity in murder.

Rose Kabuye on her images and several others close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, will no longer be prosecuted in the case of the attack of April 6, 1994 against President Juvénal Habyarimana's Falcon 50. The former guerrilla leader, now Rwandan President Paul Kagame's chief of protocol, had been charged by a French court with "complicity in murder in connection with terrorism".

Tuesday, the Court of Cassation closed this file confirming a dismissal in the investigation opened by judge Jean Louis Bruguière and which had led to the deterioration of relations between Paris and Kigali. The latter accused the RPF soldiers, he had signed arrest warrants against them and in 2006 had recommended proceedings against President Kagame before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. This attack, whose sponsors we will never know, also played a role in the civil war at that time.

The defense lawyers, in a press release hailed a final judicial victory for the unjustly accused Rwandan soldiers. As for the families of the victims, they will no longer have recourse, after the final decision of the Court of Cassation.

Tebboune: Our relationship with Morocco has deteriorated with the support of Israel, and the ice with France has begun to melt

The Algerian president attributed the worsening of his country's relationship with Morocco to the latter's receiving support from Israel against it. He also revealed the return of improvement in bilateral relations between Algeria and France.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said, on Tuesday, that his country 's relationship with Morocco has deteriorated further, accusing the Kingdom of receiving Israel's support.

Tebboune said, in an interview with local media, that Morocco harnessed the "propaganda and false news apparatus" to strike the national unity and insult the Algerian army every day, noting that "Israel supports the Moroccan regime more against Algeria."

Tebboune was answering a question about whether the Algerian president was still on the same position he expressed last October in a similar meeting with Algerian media that his country would not accept any mediation with Morocco to restore relations between the two countries to normal, sending a strong warning to Rabat. And its ally Israel from the consequences of the attack on Algeria.

Tebboune returned a month later, last November, to express his regret over the cooperative relations between Morocco and Israel.

Taboun said in a video interview with local media, "For the first time since the establishment of the entity, it is a disgrace and disgrace that the entity threatens an Arab country from one Arab country to another."

This came after Morocco and Israel signed an “unprecedented” security cooperation framework agreement, during the first visit of its kind by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to the Kingdom.

On the other hand, Tebboune revealed the beginning of the thaw between Algeria and France, as his country is a regional power in the African continent, hinting at the return of bilateral relations to improvement without going into more details, claiming that France is on the verge of a presidential election and does not want to influence it.

Relations between France and Algeria witnessed tensions at the beginning of last October, against the background of statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he questioned the existence of the Algerian nation before the French colonization of the country, which angered the higher authorities in Algeria, and Algeria summoned its ambassador to Paris, but it returned him in At the beginning of this year, following a statement by the French presidency in which it affirmed its respect for the Algerian nation.

Algeria severed its diplomatic relations with Morocco at the end of last August, against the background of what it called "Rabat's conduct of hostile acts" against it.