Africa, Analysis, Side Feature

Q&A: The Military Coup d’état in Mali

Question:

The Military Council in Mali announced on Thursday evening 27/8/2020 the release of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, according to what was reported by the Anadolu Agency. And on the evening of 18/8/2020, it was announced that a military coup had taken place in Mali against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, and that he and his prime minister, Bobo Cisse, were arrested. Who is behind this coup? Is it related to the American-European conflict?


Answer:

To get a clear picture we will review the following matters:

1- We will compare what happened today with what happened in the past, eight years ago, as a similar coup d’état took place on 22/3/2012 CE, when a group of low-ranking officers staged a coup against President Amadou (Ahmadu) Toumani Toure, who had a month left until the end of his second term at that time. We have explained that America was behind that coup, so we said in the “Answer to Question” we issued on 24/3/2012 CE: [All that we have mentioned indicates that America was behind the coup that took place in Mali in order to enter this Islamic country and extend its influence over it and replace its old French colonizer, which still extends its influence over it. America wanted to disrupt the upcoming elections in Mali, because the political center is affiliated with France. Through this coup, the tables were turned on the players who were agents of France, who agreed on the game according to French policy. Thus, Mali will be linked to America which will control the movement of the “military”]. Today, officers with small ranks, the highest of which is a colonel, launched a coup against President Boubacar Keita, who was elected for the first time on 15/8/2013, and was re-elected for the term of 12/8/2018. The soldiers set off from “Kati” camp, which is 15 km  away from the capital, and it is the same camp from which the coup was launched in 2012.

After the March 2012 coup, France managed to obtain UN Security Council resolutions to intervene in northern Mali, resolution 2071 on 23/9/2012 CE and another resolution, 2085 on 20/12/2012 CE to protect its colonization under the pretext of fighting Al Qaeda and extremist groups! 15,000 international forces were formed, especially from France and Europe, and African forces, from which France formed a joint African force called the G5 Sahel Forces, namely Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkino Faso and Chad, where French influence is strong; it was able to restore its influence in less than a year and a half after the 2012 coup. This was by the election of Boubacar Keita on 15/8/2013. He was re-elected for the second time on 12/8/2018! Although America is not strong in popular circles like France, it has access in the military that enabled it to make the current coup stronger than its first coup in 2012! After its first coup failed, which ended less than a year and a half before it took place, it began working to win agents in the political center and civil society organizations, not just the military, in an attempt to have a popular center to support its current coup.

2- On 19/8/2020, the new coup leader, Colonel Qasimi Quetta, presented himself as the head of what he called the “National Council for the Salvation of the People” in Mali. He appeared on TV on Tuesday evening 18/8/2020 with a group of officers who carried out the coup. They took Keita, Prime Minister Cisse, other ministers and officials totaled 17 to prison. Then the soldiers showed Keita on television to announce his abdication of the rule to the army. He said in his speech: “He does not want blood to be shed in order to remain in power.” (Reuters 19/8/2020). Colonel Ismail Waghi, a spokesman for the coup group, said ( “… our country is plunging into chaos, anarchy and insecurity, and this is due in large part to the mistake of the people who are responsible for its fate.”

“We will form a transitional council with a transitional president, who will be military or civilian. We are in contact with civil society, the opposition parties, the majority and everyone, to try to arrange the transition. The National Committee for the Rescue of the People – which was formed by the leaders of the coup today – added that the Transitional Council includes 6 soldiers and 18 civilians, and continued that it would play the role of the transitional legislative body, provided that the president of the council would be elected by its members.” (Al-Jazeera 21/8/2020).

Here, it appears that the soldiers orchestrated the coup with politicians and opposition groups, including the so-called civil society organizations such as unions and associations, which began to carry out political actions and the colonial countries financed them and bribed them. It appears that America was able to win many of them until Keita fell before completing his second term in an attempt by America to ensure the success of its agents in the future with its focus on the army and winning agents from its officers.

3- It seems that America tried this time to have popular pillars for its coup, so it paved for it since the beginning of last June, when protests erupted in which thousands of demonstrators took part in the streets of Bamako, the capital of Mali, since the beginning of last June, calling on President Keita to resign and accusing him and his government of corruption, favouritism and poor public services and malpractice in elections, inability in leadership, and in the fight against what they call extremism and terrorism. Certain parties formed a coalition known as the June 5 or M5 coalition. Nohom Tojo, head of the June 5 coalition that led the protests, said: “He works with the military who took power,” describing the ECOWAS group’s sanctions as “an overreaction caused by the fears of some of its leaders that the coup would lead to political unrest in their countries” and he saluted the military coup, and described it as “it came to complete the march of the Malian people and their aspirations to a democratic, civil and secular state.” (Al-Jazeera 21/8/2020). It seems that the protests in Mali were not spontaneous, but were led by agents carrying the colonialist’s ideas of democracy, civil and secularism. They allied with the military and supported the coup. America aims to make Mali a launching point and a focus for contagion of coups in the region to topple the regimes affiliated to France and Britain in West and Central Africa.

4- Then the US envoy to the Sahel region, J Peter Pham, wrote on his Twitter account after the coup in Mali: (“The United States opposes all unconstitutional changes of government” and said, “The United States has suspended all aspects of cooperation with the Malian army until the political situation becomes clear soon after the officers‘ overthrowing of President Ibrahim Keita. He said: “A decision on whether to formally describe what happened recently as a coup must be issued after a legal review. ”(Reuters 22/8/2020), so it appears that America does not condemn the coup and the group that conducted it. The words expressed by its envoy about its opposition to the unconstitutional changes are general words that have nothing to do with the coup. Rather it supported the coup by Sisi in Egypt and the military coup in Sudan, and did not consider them as coups because it created them.This is the case with the Mali coup, as it said through its envoy that it would undertake a legal review to examine if what took place is a coup or not !! Which indicates that it was behind the coup.

This is supported by the Qatari Al-Jazeera website‘s report on 21/8/2020: (“America provides regular training to Malian soldiers, including some of the officers who led the coup against Keita.”) Those who led the coup were those who were trained and won by America as its agents. The same thing happened in the coup in 2012, and we mentioned this in the “ Answer to Question” we issued in this regard on 24/3/2012: (“On 24/3/2012, Al-Asr website quoted informed American sources that an American diplomat who requested anonymity to the press stated, : “The coup leader, Captain Amadou“ Ahmadu ”Hay Sanogo, was chosen from among the elite officers by the American embassy to receive military training in the United States, to combat terrorism, and added that“ Sanjo traveled several times to America on special missions … ”). America is taking the same step that it took in 2012, through coups, to expel the Europeans and replace them, to unilaterally colonize the country. But this time, its focus may be more than in the past, as it began to find in political parties and civil society organizations a political center to stand in place of the pro-French political center.

5- France’s, the influencing power there, reaction was strongly condemning (the coup). It was mad, and the French presidency said, (“The President of the State Macron is closely following the situation and condemns the ongoing rebellion attempt …” (AFP 18/8/2020) France’s Foreign Minister Le Drian said: (“France condemns in the strongest terms this dangerous incident” … (Al-Hurra 19/8/2020 CE) During his meeting with German Chancellor Merkel to discuss developments in Mali, Macron said on 20/8/2020 CE: (“France and Germany condemn the coup in Mali and want the country to return as soon as possible to civilian rule. Nothing should divert attention from confronting acts of violence perpetrated by Islamist militants in the Sahel region”. French Defense Minister Florence Parly said,” France will continue its military operations in Mali against militants despite the ousting of the country’s president there two days ago in a military coup. “(Reuters 20/8/2020).

These statements indicate the extent of France’s annoyance with the coup, which confirms that this coup was targeting its influence there as it plundered the wealth of Mali and the neighbouring countries, as it is rich in many abundant and rare mineral resources, and it took it as an important strategic location to protect its influence in West Africa, as it forms with the Sahel countries one region. If Mali is taken away from France, the “infection” may be transmitted to other countries. France is working to support its military presence, which is about 5100 soldiers, with European forces, and is seeking help from Germany, where the latter, along with France, shares a force of about 1100 soldiers under the so-called Barkhane operation. It has resorted to the Gulf countries, including the UAE, to finance the joint African force. Britain is participating with about 250 soldiers and three helicopters. The European Union is participating with about 620 soldiers. And America refuses to support the Barkhane force with money and equipment, and says that it contributes through intelligence and surveillance because of its drones.

6- The African Union and ECOWAS condemned the coup, so Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission, said on Twitter: “I strongly condemn the arrest of President Ibrahim Keita, the Prime Minister and other members of the Malian government and call for their immediate release.” The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and they are 15 countries, agreed to close its borders with Mali, suspend all money entry into the country, and expel Mali from all decision-making bodies in the assembly. On 22/8/2020, a delegation from this assembly visited Mali and met with the leaders of the coup. The meeting was expected to last an hour and a half, but it only lasted 20 minutes, which indicates the failure of the mission of this group that came to convince the leaders of the coup to bring Keita and his government back to power as the news agencies reported. But the leaders of the coup refused this and insisted on their coup, and stated that negotiations with the assembly delegation could take place over the duration of the transitional period. Note that the African Union and ECOWAS are predominantly European agents, especially in West Africa.

7- In conclusion, America is competing with Europe, especially France and Britain, in Africa, and especially in Islamic countries, including Mali, for it is an Islamic country over which the colonialists fight to extend their influence so that they can plunder its wealth. France currently possesses the lion’s share of the wealth, and the colonialists are also fighting over it for its strategic location in West Africa, which forms one region with the countries of the Sahel, and its Muslim people are left to suffer poverty, destitution and disease, and the ruling agents secure for the colonizers what they want in order to obtain a crooked chair while they are humiliated. Mali is a weak country prone to colonialism, as there is no Muslim force capable of protecting it from the invasions of the colonialists, as they issue decisions for direct military intervention under flimsy pretexts. And there is no Islamic force like the awaited Khilafah Rashida (rightly guided Caliphate) state, Allah willing, to confront their invasions and teach them a lesson they will not forget. Therefore, the work to establish this state is one of the most important duties, and in that is the glory, victory, and protection against all arrogant kuffar. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «وَإِنَّمَا الإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ يُقَاتَلُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ وَيُتَّقَى بِهِ» “Verily the Imam is but a shield behind whom the people fight and are protected by” [Muslim]

13 Muharram Al- Haram 1442 AH

1/9/2020 CE

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