Mali’s junta chief on Thursday pardoned a French intelligence agent serving a 20 year jail term, a rare conciliatory gesture following years of tension between the west African nation and its former colonial ruler.
Key Statements
On Thursday, the Malian army announced the release of 82 soldiers who had been held since April by JNIM and the FLA.
Junta leader General Assimi Goita’s release of the agent demonstrated his “commitment to peace and dialogue, as well as to the ancestral values of forgiveness, hospitality and magnanimity that characterise our culture”, the statement said. The French foreign ministry maintains that the agent was “carrying out a security cooperation mission, and at no point did France participate, directly or indirectly, in the destabilisation of Mali”. A foreign ministry source told AFP that the release was facilitated by Algeria.
Political Context
The Malian officers arrested with the French official have not yet stood trial. They are accused of establishing an espionage and conspiracy network aimed at destabilizing Mali’s government in order to stage a coup. The assaults resulted in the death of the country’s defence minister, the capture of the northern city of Kidal by insurgents and the brief capture of the town of Anefis.
In its statement, the Malian government acknowledged a “brotherly country” whose “good offices, exercised discreetly and with scrupulous respect for Mali’s sovereignty, contributed to securing this pardon. Morocco, which maintains good relations with France and Mali, reportedly played a role, according to a Malian military source interviewed by French newspaper Le Monde.
