A thousand Malians demonstrated Friday, January 10 in Bamako to demand the departure of foreign troops, in particular the French force Barkhane, three days from a summit in France intended to “clarify»The roles in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel.
900 in number, according to the police, and “several thousands“According to the organizers, the demonstrators gathered on the Independence Square, in the center of the capital, at the call of civil society organizations and political parties.
“The French government is an obstacle to our development“Could be read on a sign brandished by a protester. “Down with France, Barkhane must leave“,”France outside, Barkhane outside, FAMa (Malian Armed Forces) can secure MaliSaid banners.
Demonstrators burned a French flag, an AFP correspondent reported.
Despite the presence of French forces (4,500 soldiers from Barkhane), the United Nations (Minusma in Mali, 13,000 men), the G5 Sahel Joint Force and American forces, the Sahelian countries are undergoing increasingly frequent jihadist attacks and deadly, since the first violence in northern Mali in 2012.
France has invited the presidents of the five Sahelian states (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) to a summit on January 13 in Pau (southwest) for “redefine military, political and development objectives more clearlyOf the common struggle against jihadist groups, according to President Emmanuel Macron, who considers the attitude of the presidents of Burkina Faso and Mali ambiguous about the presence of French soldiers, criticized by part of the public opinion of these two countries.
Deputies of the Rassemblement pour le Mali (RPM), the party of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, took part in the Bamako demonstration on Friday, according to AFP correspondents, while the head of state repeated the latter days that it didn’t take “not make the wrong enemy“.
“The foreign forces present in our country are our allies in this tragic war which is imposed on us. We will not win this war by choosing the wrong enemy and playing into the hands of the terrorist hordes“Said Keïta.
In his traditional televised speech of December 31, he said to himself “convinced“That the Malians mainly experienced a”feeling of gratitudeTowards the allied countries. “This should not be confused with a minority of activists, snipers or centrifugal forces who seek to fire any wood, including the game of terrorists“.
He also called “decisive“Meeting Pau because it”will put on the table all questions, all grievances, all solutions“. The announcement of the summit had been badly received by many in the region, who had rather perceived it as a “convocation“.
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