Source: rochkaborepf /twitter.com / France President Emmanuel Macron with Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in the southern French city Pau attending  the G5-Sahel Summit Jan. 13, 2020. 

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The long-awaited meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders of the G5-Sahel nations  Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania took place Monday in Pau to clarify France’s military presence in West Africa in the battle against Islamist insurgents there.  France announced it will deploy an additional 220 troops to the Sahel to beef up its current 4,500-strong Operation Barkhane force. France’s military presence in its old colonial backyard in West Africa has sparked tremendous hostility toward French policy from Africans living in the region.  Relentless deadly terror attacks occur almost daily in the Sahel despite the  presence of the thousands of French troops and UN peacekeeping forces. President Macron’s initial invitation to  the G5-Sahel heads of state last month created a swirl of controversy in Mali and Burkina Faso. Apparently, President Macron “summoned” the G5 Sahel leaders for a scheduled December 16 meeting to “clarify” the African heads of state position on France’s military presence amid growing hostility in West Africa to the French nation’s soldiers on Sahel soil.

“I can’t have – and I don’t want to have –  troops on the ground in the Sahel when there is ambiguity toward anti-French movements and sometimes comments made by politicians and ministers.”

-France President Macron said during a December 2019 press conference 

Credit:  France24 screen shot /   Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore with French President Macron and Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou at the  Pau  G5-Sahel Summit  Jan. 13, 2020. 

The G5-Sahel Summit was then re-scheduled for Monday Jan. 13, 2020.  After a two-hour meeting behind closed doors, President Macron appeared at a press conference during which he declared proudly that situation had now been clarified.  Apparently, the G5-Sahel heads of state gave their total backing to French troops remaining in the region. As a result,  Macron pledged another 220 French soldiers in the fight against the al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror groups.

“The G5 Sahel heads of state expressed the desire for France’s military involvement in the Sahel to continue and called for a strengthening of the international presence alongside them. They expressed their gratitude for the crucial support provided by the United States and the desire for it to continue,” according to a joint statement by the presidents of France and the G5 Sahel countries.   “They repeated that this joint action is aimed at protecting civilians, defending the sovereignty of the G5 Sahel states and preventing the terrorist threat from spreading into bordering countries – the goal being to restore stability, the essential precondition for development,” the statement added.  It may include support for the deployment of the G5 Sahel countries’ armies with the backing of the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

“I thank Emmanuel Macron for the warm welcome  received this Monday in Pau and for the perfect organization of the summit devoted to security in the Sahel.”

 -Burkina Faso President Roch Kabore via Twitter.

UN Official Describes Relentless, Unprecedented Terrorist Attacks In West Africa, Sahel

The top UN official in West Africa and the Sahel last week  described a devastating, “unprecedented” surge in terrorist violence across the region.  Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, briefed the Security Council meeting on peace consolidation in West Africa at UN world headquarters. 

“The region has experienced a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets. The humanitarian consequences are alarming.”

Chambas told the Council in its first formal meeting of the year. In presenting his latest report, Mr. Chambas painted a picture of relentless attacks on civilian and military targets that he said, have “shaken public confidence”.

The UNOWAS chief elaborated on terrorist-attack casualties in Burkina Faso Mali and Niger, which have leapt five-fold since 2016 – with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 2019 alone as compared to some 770 three years earlier.

UN Chief Attends  G5- Sahel Summit  With France  President Macron  

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General  António Guterres at press briefing at UN world headquarters in New York.

UN  Secretary-General António Guterres  also attended the G-5 Sahel  summit in France Monday January 13 hosted by President Macron with leaders of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger,  to discuss ways  combating Islamic extremism in the troubled West Africa region.  The  UN Secretary General attended a dinner that took place at the summit in Pau.   Josep Borrell of the European Union, Charles Michel of the European Council, the African Union’s Moussa Faki, and Louise Mushikiwabo from the International Organization of the Francophonie  also attended. The dinner aimed to address the crisis in the Sahel by strengthening international engagement and collaboration on security, humanitarian and development.

“The Secretary‑General has been very vocal and very clear on the need for a coordinated approach to fighting terrorism and extremist groups in the Sahel, as well as to address the underlying causes through development projects and looking at other issues in the region.  He will continue to advocate for those things and to make sure that the situation in the Sahel is not relegated to the back burner.”

-Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for  the UN Secretary-General said Jan. 14, 2020 in a press briefing in response to a question regarding the UN chief’s presence at the  G5-Sahel Summit.