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French soldiers in 2014 during the Barkhane opération to combat Islamist terrorism in the Sahel region.
Photo: Joe Penney / REUTERS
French President Emmanuel Macron is threatening the withdrawal of French troops from Mali if the West African state moves in the direction of radical Islamism after the latest coup.
There is currently such a tendency in Mali, Macron told the Sunday newspaper "Le Journal du Dimanche".
In that case he would bring the French soldiers home.
Putschist leader Assimi Goita had himself proclaimed the new interim president on Friday evening.
Last August, he led a military coup that overthrew President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.
Earlier this week, the military also forced previous interim president Bah N'Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane to resign.
Macron said he had made it clear to West African heads of state and government that he would not support any government that no longer had democratic legitimacy.
Also the armed forces in Mali
The former colonial power France is deployed in the country with around 20 million inhabitants with more than 5000 soldiers to fight Islamist terrorism.
The Bundeswehr has also deployed several hundred soldiers as part of EU and UN missions.
It is unclear what will happen to the Bundeswehr soldiers in the event of a French withdrawal.
The EU announced on Friday that it would continue its military operation in Mali despite the chaotic situation.
There was initially no reaction from the federal government to the latest developments.
Borders tight
West African heads of state from the Ecowas economic community will discuss the situation in Mali at a special summit in Ghana this Sunday.
After the coup in August 2020, Ecowas closed the borders with Mali and stopped financial transactions and trade with the country.
The political situation in Mali has been unstable since 2012.
The mostly jihadist-motivated violence has also reached neighboring countries in the Sahel zone in recent years.
In 2013, France repulsed the advance of Islamist terror groups on Mali's capital Bamako with a massive military operation.
Some of these groups have sworn allegiance to the "Islamic State" (IS) or Al-Qaeda.
gro / AFP / dpa