alkhabar
Maghreb
Jean-Dominique Merchet
The case of Mali is a central concern of French diplomacy, as the President of the Republic explained today to the United Nations General Assembly. On the eve of the annual meeting - and this is not a coincidence of timing - we learned that the Malian government decided in favour of an international military intervention to help the regain control of the northern part of the country, today controlled by several radical Islamist groups (AQIM, Mujao, Ansar Dine).
What role will France play in its former colony? That of "facilitator" as Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said which excludes France from the "front line". "We're not going to do more that support" adds his side defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Militarily, the case could take at best several weeks or months ... This will involve an armed force African countries after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), before the support of some larger cousins ... including France.
It is very strange that Laurent Fabius yesterday denied the presence of French special forces in the region. This is absurd, because the presence if discrete, is public! Did we not seen COS men to intervene in Ouagadougou in January 2011 in an attempt to free two abducted French hostages in Niamey?
The presence of COS in the Sahel region is called Operation Sabre. It is done with the explicit agreement of the authorities of these countries. The capital of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou) is the centre of this operation. For the record, the Ambassador of France in this country is General Emmanuel Beth, Beth's brother Frédéric is a General and former head of the COS and current number two at DGSE. There is even a small story that the ambassador recently broke his foot in parachuting with French special forces ... The Special Operations Command - with its airplanes and helicopters - is also present in Mauritania, and more low profile, Niger and Mali without doubt.
What role for the French army? Training and support. If an African intervention force is created, it will have to train and, in part, equip. Then support it, transporting it and assist it. The means of information gathering are - or will soon be deployed in the region, including maritime patrol aircraft, the Atlantique 2 in Niamey (Niger). Other air assets are being considered. Algerian press has recently reported the presence of French troops in the south of Libya: it is a team of Air Force engineering personnel, charged with an mission evaluation of repairing bombed runways during operation Harmattan ...
France plays a delicate role, because radical Islamists hold six French hostages and threaten to execute them in case of French intervention. Another thorn is Algeria, its neighbour states in the region, which does not look the eyes of France with Chimene and could book him a few dirty tricks. At the same time, the international community understands that it is not acceptable for that area out of control, as Taliban Afghanistan or Somalia today, settled permanently in the heart of Africa ...
Are there other French operations in progress? It is probable, but these are the DGSE and are therefore illegal. Nothing to do with those of COS, which are themselves, discrete military operations claimed by the political authorities, even if they do not comment. This is the difference in nature between the COS and the DGSE.
What role will France play in its former colony? That of "facilitator" as Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said which excludes France from the "front line". "We're not going to do more that support" adds his side defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. Militarily, the case could take at best several weeks or months ... This will involve an armed force African countries after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), before the support of some larger cousins ... including France.
It is very strange that Laurent Fabius yesterday denied the presence of French special forces in the region. This is absurd, because the presence if discrete, is public! Did we not seen COS men to intervene in Ouagadougou in January 2011 in an attempt to free two abducted French hostages in Niamey?
The presence of COS in the Sahel region is called Operation Sabre. It is done with the explicit agreement of the authorities of these countries. The capital of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou) is the centre of this operation. For the record, the Ambassador of France in this country is General Emmanuel Beth, Beth's brother Frédéric is a General and former head of the COS and current number two at DGSE. There is even a small story that the ambassador recently broke his foot in parachuting with French special forces ... The Special Operations Command - with its airplanes and helicopters - is also present in Mauritania, and more low profile, Niger and Mali without doubt.
What role for the French army? Training and support. If an African intervention force is created, it will have to train and, in part, equip. Then support it, transporting it and assist it. The means of information gathering are - or will soon be deployed in the region, including maritime patrol aircraft, the Atlantique 2 in Niamey (Niger). Other air assets are being considered. Algerian press has recently reported the presence of French troops in the south of Libya: it is a team of Air Force engineering personnel, charged with an mission evaluation of repairing bombed runways during operation Harmattan ...
France plays a delicate role, because radical Islamists hold six French hostages and threaten to execute them in case of French intervention. Another thorn is Algeria, its neighbour states in the region, which does not look the eyes of France with Chimene and could book him a few dirty tricks. At the same time, the international community understands that it is not acceptable for that area out of control, as Taliban Afghanistan or Somalia today, settled permanently in the heart of Africa ...
Are there other French operations in progress? It is probable, but these are the DGSE and are therefore illegal. Nothing to do with those of COS, which are themselves, discrete military operations claimed by the political authorities, even if they do not comment. This is the difference in nature between the COS and the DGSE.
