Cape Town — French troops ended their withdrawal from Mali in August 2022 after a nine-year mission that supported the government troops in their fight against armed groups.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Mali Prime Minister Choguel Maiga said he needed to clarify that his country did not abandon cooperation with France. “Let us say France or France’s leaders are the ones who wanted to impose on our country what should be done, what we should think about and what to say”, he said. Mali’s military rulers say they did not force France to remove its soldiers from the West African nation.
At the time of the French withdrawal, Maiga addressed the UN National Assembly accusing France of abandoning his country in mid-flight with the “unilateral” decision to withdraw all French troops. Maiga, who is heading the transition back to democracy, following the August 2020 overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, told Al Jazeera: “they decided to leave and we said: this is your choice. They are the ones who wanted to leave, and they believed we would beg them to stay,” he said.
On the role of Russia in Mali and the concerns from the U.S. and Europe on their presence, Maiga told Al Jazeera the concerns were not legitimate. “Our aim is peace and safety in Mali … We went to work with those who are not subject to pressure, and in a year our army managed to do what it could not do in 30 years because of the work and cooperation with Russia,” Maiga said.
The Wagner Group was recently sanctioned by the European Union for their presence in Africa.
Mali also accused France of supporting armed groups with weapons in their fight against the Mali army, a claim that France has denied.