After Mali, France Fears Bust-up With Junta-ruled Burkina Faso

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jan, 2023 ) :France fears a repeat of its disastrous falling-out with Mali in junta-ruled Burkina Faso, where another domino in its military cooperation against West African militants could topple.

French troops withdrew from Mali last year, after a 2020 coup in the former French colony saw its rulers inch closer to Russia.

Burkina Faso, also once under French rule, now seems to be moving down the same path, after officers seized power there in September, in the second coup in eight months.

France has 400 special forces stationed in the country to battle a militant insurgency.

But relations have deteriorated in recent months, and Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tembela in November said he hoped to "diversify partnership relations" in the fight against militants.

"Russia is a reasonable choice," Tembela said on Saturday after meeting Russian ambassador Alexey Saltykov.

The premier also made a discreet visit to Moscow in early December.

In Mali, France fell out of favour with the junta after the alleged arrival in 2021 of operatives from the murky Wagner Russian mercenary outfit to bolster government forces.

Behind the scenes, the Burkinabe military government has sought to reassure Paris that it does not intend to enlist Wagner's help.

But French sources say a delegation from the mercenary group has visited the mineral-rich country, where a Russian firm already operates several gold mines.