- O'Rourke strikes early for Kiwis as Sri Lanka trail by three
- Deep takes two as Bangladesh totter in reply to India's 376
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
- Viral Korean Olympic shooter scores first acting role as assassin
- Farrell set for 'challenge' of downing Bordeaux in Top 14
- Springbok Etzebeth diverts attention from looming caps record
- Inter on a high ahead of Milan derby as Napoli face Juve test
- Bank of Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged
- Arnold quits after six years in charge of Australia
- Asian markets track Wall Street record to extend global rally
- Guirassy and Anton to return to Stuttgart with new side Dortmund
- Marseille bidding to continue 'almost perfect' Ligue 1 start
- Arnold quits as coach of Australia men's football team
- Harris and Oprah hold star-studded US election rally
- Allies to remember failed WWII parachute operation
- Perez leading new-look Villarreal charge against leaders Barca
- Man City face Arsenal in Premier League title showdown, Postecoglou under pressure
- Fake celebrity endorsements, snubs plague US presidential race
- Documentary brings Argentine 'death flights' to the big screen
- Strike shows challenge to Boeing 'reset' of labor relations
- World leaders to gather at UN as crises grow and conflicts rage
- How plastic pollution poses challenge for Canada marine conservation
- Scientists track plastic waste in pristine Canada marine park
- South Africa's Buhai grabs LPGA Queen City lead
- Japan inflation firms to 2.8% ahead of BoJ rate decision
- Russia's Kadyrov accuses Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck
- Titan sub had to abort a dive days before fatal implosion: testimony
- Ohtani makes MLB history with first 50-homer, 50-steal season
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases, 49 homers
- Ohtani eyes MLB history after surpassing 50 stolen bases
- Barca downed by Monaco as Arsenal held in Champions League stalemate
- Head's 'good night at office' after century seals win over England
- Dubois seeks legitimacy with Joshua scalp
- Rate cut could lift consumer spirits before US elections
- Last-gasp Gimenez strike sends Atletico past Leipzig
- Barca stumble at Monaco after early red card
- Raya heroics save Arsenal in Champions League opener at Atalanta
- Cathay Airbus engine fire linked to cleaning: EU regulator
- Guardians beat Twins to secure MLB playoff berth
- Jihadist attack in Mali capital killed more than 70: security sources
- Alonso hails 'efficient' Leverkusen after Feyenoord rout
- Head's hundred seals Australia win over England in 1st ODI
- Ex-Man United striker Anthony Martial joins AEK Athens
- NFL unbeatens meet as Texans visit Vikings, Steelers host Chargers
Macron warns of 'predatory' Russian mercenaries in Mali
While announcing on Thursday that France would withdraw its troops from Mali, President Emmanuel Macron made his strongest condemnation yet of the shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner whose alleged arrival in West Africa has infuriated Paris.
The French leader made clear that a suspected deal between the Malian military regime and Wagner was a crucial factor in pushing Paris to withdraw its 2,400 troops after a nine-year deployment against local jihadist groups.
Macron said that Wagner was "arriving in Mali with predatory intentions, but why?"
"Because the junta which is in power after two coups d'etats considers them to be the best partners they can find to protect their power, not to fight against terrorism," Macron said.
He said Wagner was previously guilty of "taking resources that should belong to the Libyan people" after their deployment in Libya and had also been responsible for "awful abuses against the civilian population" in the Central African Republic.
In Mali, they were "essentially there to secure their own business interests and protect the junta itself," Macron added, calling on Mali's leaders to explain how they were paying the secretive organisation reportedly founded by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Stephen Townsend, head of the US Africa command, said earlier this month that he believed Mali was paying Wagner $10 million a month, partly in gold and gemstones.
Mali's military rulers, who seized power in 2020, have always denied any such deal, but Macron said that the Russian group had deployed "around 800" fighters in the landlocked country that is home to growing al-Qaeda and Islamic State-aligned groups.
UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday that Wagner was "effectively in bed with the junta."
- Russian denials -
Mali's leaders admit to having relations with the Russian state, which they say has provided military trainers.
Mali was "only involved in a state-to-state partnership with the Russian Federation, its historical partner", according to a statement from the government in Bamako at the end of December.
The regime has also stressed that they were left with no choice but to look for new security partners after Macron announced in 2021 that France would be drawing down its forces in the Sahel region.
Malia's interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga accused Paris of a "sort of abandonment" at the UN general assembly in September last year.
Western officials have claimed for months that Russian transport planes have been spotted delivering Wagner fighters and arms, as well as Russian geologists known for their association with the group.
Russian President Vladmir Putin denies any link with Wagner despite Western suspicions that it is a Trojan Horse used to advance Moscow's interests, including in Ukraine.
"The Russian Federation has nothing to do with private military organisations that are operating in Mali," Putin told a press conference with Macron in Moscow on February 7.
- Abuses -
The existence of Wagner is hard to pin down, with investigators unable to find formal traces such as company registration, tax returns or an organisational chart.
When the EU wanted to sanction it in 2020 for "serious human rights abuses", it targeted Prigozhin, an oligarch nicknamed "Putin's chef" because his company once catered for the Kremlin.
Jason Blazakis from the New York-based Soufan Group think-tank said that Wagner was following in the footsteps of other mercenary operators in Africa, notably South Africans.
"The Wagner folks are walking through a door that has long been open to their ilk," he added.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank in Washington, has found evidence since 2016 of Russian soldiers of fortune in more than a dozen countries including Sudan, Madagascar, Botswana, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Macron had previously condemned Wagner's role in the Central African Republic (CAR), saying last May that it was exploiting mines and that CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera was now a "hostage".
UN chief Antonio Guterres this week denounced "human rights abuses" by CAR's army and its foreign supporters, an allusion to Wagner.
Djallil Lounnas, a researcher at Morocco's Al Akhawayn university, said that part of the appeal of Wagner is that there is less concern about the scrutiny that comes with working for Western partners.
"Russia has its interests. It doesn't ask questions," he told AFP.
But Wagner's results do not always measure up to the hopes invested in them.
In Libya, its mercenaries are thought to have suffered heavy losses while working for warlord Khalifa Haftar during his unsuccessful attempt to conquer the capital Tripoli.
And in Mozambique, they retreated in the face jihadists linked to the Islamic State.
S.Keller--BTB