Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumFrance warns Russia against paramilitary involvement in Mali
Source: Agence France-Presse
Fri, September 24, 2021, 12:44 PM·1 min read
France's foreign minister has warned his Russian counterpart against involving paramilitaries from the controversial Wagner group in Mali's conflict.
"On Mali, the minister alerted his Russian counterpart to the serious consequences of the Wagner group's involvement in this country," the French foreign ministry said Friday.
Jean-Yves Le Drian met Sergey Lavrov on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to reports, Mali's army-dominated government in Bamako is close to hiring 1,000 Wagner paramilitaries.
France has warned Mali that hiring the fighters from the Russian private-security firm would isolate the country internationally.
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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/france-warns-russia-against-paramilitary-164430543.html

Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 26, 2021, 04:05 PM - Edit history (1)
C). There is an insurgency to be fought.
Eugene
(60,037 posts)Russian mercenaries are also responsible for widespread human rights violations in the region, especially in the Central African Republic.
The military takeover of help create the mess they are in. Among other things, it gave al Qaeda an opening to come in and ransack much of the country.
Countries don't have the sovereign right to commit war crimes. Russia's actions by proxy are also likely to destabilize the region even further.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)The government invites both French military and private contractor assistance. Is that uncommon? It's a shame the United Nations Mercenary Convention isn't properly enforced everywhere.