On Monday, Mali’s President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced that the government was prepared to talk with jihadist groups. The aim is to end the violent activities of the Islamist militants. This decision seems to have been propelled by escalating killings in the country’s central and northern regions.
According to a news report, Keita said that “the number of dead in the Sahel is becoming exponential,” adding that it was time for “certain avenues to be explored.”
Going by further comments made, the Malian government seems to have a knowledge of those that are directly involved in the activities of these jihadists. In the report, the President’s statement read, “why not try to contact those who we know are pulling the strings.”
Although Keita did not say what was being done to talk to Islamist groups, he hinted that the former president and high representative to central Mali, Dioncounda Traore, “has the task of listening to everyone.”
Mali is one of the five countries in the G-5 Sahel initiative backed by the French military troop since 1st August 2014, when France began an anti-insurgent mission in the region called “Operation Barkhane”. Other countries in the G-5 Sahel include Niger, Mauritania, Chad and Burkina Faso. The purpose of G-5 Sahel is to strengthen the bond between economic development and security and together battle the threat of jihadist insurgency operating in the region. The United Nations also has a 14,000-strong peacekeeping mission in the region.
However, in December last year, there was growing anti-French sentiment in the region which insinuated that the escalations of bloodshed were due to the presence of the French military troops in the region. This made France demand that the leader of the G-5 Sahel dismissed growing anti-French sentiment across the region if they wanted its military to continue its mission against Islamist militants. President Emmanuel Macron made the demands after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in London.
This new move by the government to negotiate with the terrorist group will be directly working against all that the French mission stands for. It would also register their position in the anti-French sentiments. If the country goes along with the decision, it may further legitimize the groups and their ideologies in the country, leaving the government at their mercy.
Last year, the International Crisis Group said that seeking dialogue with jihadists may encounter some opposition within Mali and abroad from those who fear it could legitimize the groups and their ideas.
France has recently said it would send 600 more soldiers to add to the 4,500 it already has, to tackle armed groups. But last week, a UN top humanitarian official in Mali, Ute Kollias, said that extra troops would not solve the crisis and urged political engagement.
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