In the spotlight: the retirement of “Barkhane”
Audio 04:49
French soldiers from Operation Barkhane leave their base in Gao, Mali, after a 4-month operation in the Sahel, June 9, 2021. © AP / Jerome Delay
By: Norbert Navarro
4 mins
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She is on the line.
The departure of the French military force from Mali could be announced within the week.
The end of "Barkhane"?
It's "
a matter of days
", launches
Le Journal du Dimanche
, France and its partners engaged in the Sahel seem to be converging on
the same decision: "leaving Mali
".
At the Élysée, it is explained to the
JDD
that “
it is indeed more a question of days than of weeks
”.
And this weekly thinks that Emmanuel Macron could make the announcement in the wake of a meeting of European and African leaders "
Wednesday evening
", on the eve of the EU-Africa summit.
Mali, the
farewell
of the French army
This retreat from Mali is this week on the front page of
L'Obs
.
"
France in the Malian trap
", launches this weekly, the file is "
explosive for Emmanuel Macron
".
According to
L'Obs
, "
all the ingredients are in fact there to make 2022 the year of all dangers in (the) Sahel
".
Presenting as an "
act of war
" the jihadist attack of January 22 against the French military base of Gao, and which cost the life of Brigadier Alexandre Martin, 24, 53rd French soldier, since 2013, to have fallen in the field of honor in the Sahel,
L'Obs
wonders "
until when
?
France will continue the fight against terrorism in the region.
"
I announced that it was a quagmire in 2013
: I was fired for that,
" a former diplomat told this magazine.
We made exactly the same mistakes as in Afghanistan.
The outcome will be the same.
We are going to leave, yes, but with the tail between our legs, and without having settled anything
", he adds, while another former diplomat explains Emmanuel Macron's decisions concerning Mali by the desire "
to reduce the political exposure and media background noise, not to be bothered about this subject during the presidential campaign
".
But
the silence of the French president about Mali "is
becoming more and more difficult to maintain
"
, underlines
L'Obs
.
To this magazine,
Oumou Sangaré says she is "
very
" worried about her country
.
Referring to the sanctions taken against Mali by the Community of West African States, the Malian singer also declares that “
ECOWAS must review its decision
”.
Vincent Bolloré, the true-false
farewell
As he prepares to celebrate the bicentenary of his group next Thursday, Vincent Bolloré is on the front page of
Challenges
and
L'Express
.
On the first, he is "
the man who worries
";
on the second, it is rather "
the Bolloré succession
" that is topical.
And for good reason, since this February 17, in principle, Vincent Bolloré – soon to be 70 years old – is also retiring.
In principle...
Will leave?
Won't leave?
At the time of the bicentenary,
L'Express
, backed by a "front page" file, salutes in any case
this "French success" that is the Bolloré group
and recalls that in Brittany (western tip of France), the Bolloré family has developed its business with the motto: “
on your knees before God, standing before men
”.
Will leave?
Will not leave Africa?
Even if Bolloré has announced the sale of part of its activities on the African continent,
Challenges
considers that this is a "
true-false farewell to Africa
".
According to this magazine,
Bolloré's “
African adventure ” is “
not over
”, because with Vivendi, the bicentenary group intends to bet on activities such as those directed… “
towards youth
”!
"
Bring me the head of Samuel Paty
"
New in the investigation into the assassination of Samuel Paty, this teacher beheaded on October 16, 2020 near his college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, not far from Paris.
The charges against one of the defendants in this traumatic case have been increased.
According to
Le Parisien Dimanche
, on December 29, Priscilla M., a radicalized 33-year-old mother, hitherto indicted for "terrorist criminal association", was this time for "complicity in terrorist assassination”.
Investigators now believe that the one who called herself "
Sweet scar
" on a social network, would have "
strengthened the determination (of the killer of Samuel Paty) to commit the criminal act
" and "
facilitated the location of the victim
", reports
Le Parisien Dimanche
.
Which newspaper points out that this
aggravation of the incrimination weighing on Priscilla M., alias "
Sweet scar
"
, now makes him incur life imprisonment.
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