The city of Kidal, the heart of the divide between France and Mali

It would be tempting to think that the tensions which have been tearing apart the French and Malian allies since the summer would relate only to the possibility of Russian interference.

The possible arrival of mercenaries from the Wagner Group certainly upsets the parties, Paris qualifying it as

with the presence of French troops under Barkhane while Bamako plays on its

But behind these words actually emerges a much older disagreement, a hiatus that dates from the first months of the Serval intervention in Mali: the status of Kidal, a town in the far north of the country, "capital" of the Tuaregs with whom relations, where commerce and trafficking, dialogues and wars are mingled, have been furiously complex for centuries.

Malians' sense of frustration is linked to the belief that France has a hidden agenda

Choguel Maïga, Prime Minister of Mali

In an interview with

, Prime Minister Choguel Maïga said it clearly: “

(the Coordination of Azawad Movements, CMA), in Kidal.

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