Moments ago, French President Emmanuel Macron received the heads of state of the five African Sahel countries in the city of Pau, southwestern France, during a summit aimed at strengthening the cooperation in fighting terrorism, as well as to encourage Europeans and other international parties to participate in this mission.
Macron insists his counterparts from Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mauritania and Chad must use the occasion to express public support for France's military presence -- by far the largest foreign contribution to the fight against African jihadists aligned to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Visiting the region last month, the French president complained of a lack of "clear political condemnation of anti-French feelings" on the ground.
"I see opposition movements, groups, who denounce the French presence as a neo-colonial, imperialist," Macron said in Niamey, adding he was loath to send soldiers to countries where their presence was not "clearly wanted".
The summit was attended also by Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Chairman of the African Union Commission Musa Faki, and President of the European Council Charles Michel.
According to Reuters, President Macron will press the five West African leaders to denounce anti-French sentiment in their countries over Paris's handling of an insurgency by Islamist militants, or risk France withdrawing troops from the region.
France, the former colonial power, has 4,500 troops in Mali and the wider Sahel, but security has been progressively worsening.
Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have strengthened their foothold, making large swathes of terr
Paris wants the Poe Summit to obtain a joint declaration by the five presidents, affirming that France is working in their countries, at their request, to "legitimize again" its presence in the region, according to the Elysee that is upset with "anti-French rhetoric."
On the other hand, France is working to establish a new process called "Tacoba", which includes special forces from about a dozen European countries to work in the face of terrorism in the African Sahel region.
The meeting comes as Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou has replaced the head of the army Ahmed Mohamed after two of the country’s deadliest attacks in living memory killed at least 160 soldiers and prompted a rethink in the battle against jihadist groups, the government said.
Mohamed led the army for over two years, a period marked by a steep rise in attacks by militants linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda that culminated in a daytime raid on a remote army base on Thursday that killed at least 89 soldiers.
The attack happened on Thursday when heavily armed militants attacked an army outpost in Chinagodrar in the country's west, near the border of Mali, government spokesman Abdourahame Zakari said in a statement Sunday.
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