French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said West African leaders will need to make it clear if they want and need France’s military to continue its operations against Islamist militants, reported Reuters.
The statement comes just days after a helicopter collision killed 13 French soldiers fighting Islamic extremists in Mali last week taking France’s death toll since intervening in Mali in 2013 to 38.
France is the only Western country that has a significant military presence to counter militant operations linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in Mali and West Africa’s arid Sahel region just below the Sahara desert.
“I want them to clarify and formalise their demands regarding France and the international community: do they want our presence and do they need it? I want clear answers to these questions,” Macron said during a news conference.
The president added that an answer to the question is a condition for keeping French troops there. He said the government can’t have French troops on the ground in the Sahel when there is ambiguity by authorities towards anti-French movements.
In Mali, there have been growing protests demanding France to leave or accusing it of being in the region for economic reasons. Last month, a popular musician from Mali, Salif Keita had released a video on social media platforms calling out his President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to stop being subjected to Macron.
“France is not there contrary to what’s heard sometimes for neo-colonialist, imperialist or economic reasons,” Macron said.
The French president said the troops are there for global security. He said he had invited leaders from Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Mauritania, countries that contribute to a regional counter-terror force, to come to Pau in southwestern France, on Monday, Dec. 16 to discuss the issue. He said the leaders’ response will be necessary for French troops to stay deployed in the countries.
