Mali and France clash during the UN Security Council
Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop openly accused France during the UN Security Council session.
Here, May 20, 2022. © Yuri Kadobnov / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
The meeting of the UN Security Council turned into a diplomatic clash on Tuesday, October 18, when Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop and the French ambassador clashed.
After Bamako launched numerous stings at the UN over the Secretary General's report for the June-September period, Abdoulaye Diop renewed the accusations against Paris.
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After a start to the session in its usual hum,
the Security Council room took on the air of a boxing ring as
soon as the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs took the floor, reports our correspondent in New York,
Carrie Nooten
.
Abdoulaye Diop criticized the UN and members of the Security Council warning the transitional authorities.
Then he
directly attacked France,
which had committed “serious acts
of aggression and espionage
” in Mali, according to him, and reproached the Council for not reacting to successive protests from Bamako.
During his speech, Abdoulaye Diop said he was surprised that the Secretary General's report "
passed over in silence
" Mali's referral to the Council on August 15 for "
attempts to destabilize and repeated violations of the airspace of Mali by the French forces
".
Either "
extremely serious acts of aggression
", he says, which must not go unchecked.
Mali requests a specific meeting of the Security Council
By his voice, the authorities of Mali renewed their request for a specific meeting of the UN Security Council to present "
concrete evidence
".
Mali's foreign minister claims France shared intelligence and
left material for criminal
organizations
The French ambassador, Nicolas de Rivière, was then indignant at these “
lies
” and defamations, and asked to respond to “
restore the truth
”: “
False and defamatory accusations
.
Serious and unfounded accusations.
France has never violated Malian airspace.
»
Nicolas de Rivière recalled the circumstances of the deployment of the Barkhane force, its mission, and affirmed that France had never
violated Malian airspace
.
Bamako was careful not to send the " evidence
" mentioned
upstream
While the Gabonese ambassador, holding the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, was preparing to close the meeting, Abdoulaye Diop asked to speak again.
After a moment of hesitation, the floor is given to him.
The Malian minister, this time without any note in front of him, reiterates his request for a specific session "
as soon as possible
".
"
The Malian State will bring to the face of the Security Council and to the face of the world tangible proof of what we are putting forward
"
,
he declares, before concluding that he wants France to bring this request. special meeting.
A theatrical request which surprised the diplomats in New York: nothing prevented Abdoulaye Diop from already advancing these elements at this present session.
The Minister could even have sent them by post to the Council prior to this meeting if he had wished, which he did not do.
►
To read also:
Accusations of Mali against France, the latest in a long series
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