BAMAKO (Dispatches) -- Thousands of anti-French protesters took to the streets of Mali’s capital waving Russian flags and burning cardboard cut-outs of French President Emmanuel Macron in celebration of the expulsion of France’s envoy in Bamako.
Mali expelled the French ambassador last week over what the country’s transitional government described as “hostile and outrageous” comments by the former colonial power.
Relations between Mali and its former colonizer have turned acrimonious since August 2020, when France and other EU countries began imposing punishing economic and financial sanctions on the country after their puppet regime was ousted in a military coup.
The EU on Friday imposed sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on five individuals including Mali’s transitional prime minister Choguel Maiga and members of interim president Assimi Goita’s inner circle.
Around 3,000 people gathered in central Bamako Friday afternoon, according to witnesses.
Adama Ben Diarra, known as Camarade Ben Le Cerveau, a vocal nationalist activist who the EU accused of helping to overthrow the regime in August 2020, was one of those sanctioned by the EU.
His movement organized Friday protest before the EU sanctions were announced. Diarra told the cheering crowd that it was an honor to be on EU’s sanctions list.
He said the expulsion of France’s ambassador was an important step. The next step must be the departure of over 5,100 troops deployed in Mali to allegedly help fight terrorists linked to Daesh and Al-Qaeda, he added.
The takfiri violence has exponentially surged across Africa after the deployment of foreign troops.
Addressing the alleged deployment of Russian mercenaries to Mali, another issue that has soured between Mali and France and other Western partners allegedly fighting militants in the Sahel, Diarra said: “For the security of my people, I am ready to make a pact with Satan
to drive out France and its terrorist allies.”
“There are thousands and thousands and thousands of Malians today who say ‘No’ to France. So, what the European Union and France need to do is respect the Malian authorities,” Moulaye Keita, member of the country’s National Transition Council, told reporters.
“They need to understand that the authorities in charge today are the only ones who can speak for our country,” Keita added.
Last week, the French diplomat was given 72 hours to leave the country.