Mali’s jihadists demand French withdrawal as condition for talks

A Malian jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda says it is willing to engage in dialogue with the government – but only if French troops and the United Nations mission leave the country.

Iyad ag Ghali, leader of GSIM jihadist group, in Kidal, August 2012. © AFP / Romaric Ollo Hein

The statement by GSIM, or Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, follows a decision taken this year by Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to open talks with jihadist groups in the country.

Ketia’s move breaks away from the official line taken by the government since 2012, when the crisis erupted, not to engage with terrorists and jihadists.

The statement by GSIM, issued on 8 March, has been verified by SITE intelligence group, a counter-terrorism NGO.

The al-Qaeda affiliated organisation, which regroups several jihadist groups in Mali, wrote that a precondition for talks was "an end to the arrogant, racist, crusader French occupation".

GSIM or JNIM (Jam’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen) is asking for “the departure of all French forces and their followers from Mali”.

It wants the Malian government to “openly declare an end to the presence of Barkhane and MINUSMA troops on their territories”.

MINUSMA, the United Nations mission in Mali with some 12,000 troops, has been established since April 2013. Operation Barkhane is the French anti-jihadist operation with 5,100 soldiers deployed in Mali and across the Sahel. It took over in August 2014 from Operation Serval, set up in January 2013.

'We don't negotiate with terrorists'

Keita has been adamant for the past 7 years that he will not engage with terrorists. But in February this year, in an interview with RFI, he said he had sent Dioncounda Traoré, his high representative in central Mali, on “a mission to listen to everybody”, including jihadists Iyad Ag Ghaly, who leads the GSIM, and Amadou Koufa who heads the Katiba Macina militia group.

• Mali open to dialogue with jihadists

Keita also did not rule out talking to the Islamic State's group leader in the region, Adnane Abou Walid al-Sharaoui.

“It is my duty to explore all possible avenues to reach some kind of peace as the death rate in the Sahel is increasing continuously,” Keita told RFI a month ago. “We are ready to build bridges. At some point, we have to sit around a table and talk.”

There has been no official response to the conditions imposed by GSIM from either Mali, France or the UN.

Mali without foreign troops

Despite regular anti-French demonstrations in the capital Bamako and various other towns, the Malian government has repeatedly said that the withdrawal of foreign forces is not at all in the interest of Mali.

“Mali needs the help of foreign troops to fight terrorism,” Keita said in January during his new year wishes.

The president later told RFI that those who keep demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops are playing into the hands of terrorists and are confused about who the real enemy is.

Last November, Mali’s Foreign Affairs minister, Tiébilé Dramé, told RFI that the French troops came to Mali in January 2013 following an official demand made by the Malian authorities.

“Operation Serval freed Mali, let’s not forget that,” he said.

Referring to the anti-French protests, Dramé also said that the terrorists are attempting to create confusion among the population and feed on a sense of despair.

Malians have their say

Listeners who called in from Mali on RFI's flagship programme, “Appels sur l'actualité”, to voice their opinion on the matter do not seem to agree with the jihadists.

Lassana from Bamako says it will be total chaos if Barkhane leaves Mali as the foreign troops are the only forces the jihadists really fear.

Chérif says the demonstrators in Bamako demanding the withdrawal of French forces are completely out of touch with the reality on the ground in the north, in towns like Tessalit or Aguelhoc.

“Ag Ghali pretends he wants to dialogue when he knows that Keita will never accept his conditions,” he told RFI.

“Who will safeguard this accord?" asked Adama. "This is a trap the terrorists are laying out for the government. If the foreign forces do withdraw, we will be like Somalia, without a proper government."