Mali: covered words, the Prime Minister evokes the Russian paramilitary company Wagner

Malian Prime Minister Choguel Maïga, here June 6, 2021 © Serge Daniel / RFI

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1 min

When receiving two associations of civil society from Mali, Thursday, September 16, Prime Minister Choguel Maïga alluded to a possible collaboration of his country with the Russian private military company Wagner, without citing his name.

He also rather criticized the action of international forces in Mali, or at least asserting the limits of their actions.

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With our correspondent in Bamako,

Serge Daniel

In front of his hosts, the

Malian Prime Minister

starts from a premise: “ 

If, in the same way that certain partners have decided to leave certain localities, they decide to leave tomorrow, what do we do?

 Without citing her by name, Choguel Maïga speaks of France, which has announced the

withdrawal of its troops

from several localities in northern Mali.

Then the head of government does not pronounce the name of the

Russian private military company Wagner

, which uses mercenaries. But he slips: “ 

There are abandoned areas that must be occupied today. We cannot leave them empty. (...) We cannot be prohibited from buying equipment from a country with which we have an agreement because another does not want to. We cannot be prevented from sending people to be trained in a given country because another country does not want to. We are forced to ask ourselves: shouldn't we have a plan B?

 "

And, probably to comfort his posture, he draws up a rather negative assessment of the action of international forces in Mali: “ 

Terrorism has spread.

State authority and sovereignty are not restored everywhere.

 »

Choguel Maïga

ends his remarks on the security subject with an open nationalism.

Thus, for not having been associated with the discussions, Mali would have recently refused the UN to increase the number of peacekeepers present on its territory.

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• Mali

• Choguel Maïga

• France