Mali decided on Thursday to recall its ambassador to Paris and to dispatch its Minister for Foreign Affairs to France to smooth things over after the incident caused by the diplomat's remarks about French soldiers sent to his country, Malian officials said.
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Ambassador Toumani Djimé Diallo will be recalled on Friday in Bamako, said a source close to the Malian presidency, without giving further details. As for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tiébilé Dramé, he leaves Thursday evening for Paris, said his services. He is going to Paris "to appease the situation," said the source close to the presidency. The ambassador of Mali had been summoned Thursday to Paris after having accused the day before, before a French parliamentary commission, soldiers of the Foreign Legion of "overflows" in the red light districts of Bamako. The removal of Minister Tiébilé Dramé was quickly decided.
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"This is a trip decided today in response to statements from the past 24 hours," said a Malian diplomatic source to AFP. "This visit is part of the strengthening of relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," said the press release by Malian Foreign Affairs announcing the trip. "It intervenes the day after the hearing by a French Senate commission of the ambassadors of the member countries of the G5 Sahel" (Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad), he adds.