French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would withdraw its forces from Mali if it moved towards what he called "radical Islam" after a second coup in this country within 9 months.
He explained, in an interview with the newspaper "Le Journal du Dimanche" published on Sunday, that he told President Bah Nidao that the survival of "radical Islam" in Mali "with our soldiers there will never happen," stressing that "if things go in this way." direction, I'll withdraw."
Macron - who is visiting Rwanda and South Africa - said he had sent a message to the leaders of West African countries that he "will not stay on the side of a country where there is no longer a democratic legitimacy or a transition process" of power.
France participates with about 5,100 members of the Barkhane force, which has been providing support to Mali in the face of armed attacks since 2012, which plunged the country into a security crisis and spread to its midst.
However, on Tuesday, Paris, like the European Union, condemned the so-called "unacceptable coup" after the arrest of President Ndaw and Prime Minister Mukhtar Wan, by a decision of the head of the military junta, Asimi Gueta.
On Friday, the French president arrived in South Africa from Rwanda, on a visit focused on combating the "Covid-19" epidemic and addressing the economic crisis resulting from it.