Terrorism: France To Provide $9m For Sahel Anti-Terrorism Force

France on Sunday pledged support to a new African anti-terrorism force in the Sahel region, announcing a contribution of 9 million dollars (8 million Euros) toward  its creation by the end of the year.

“Our enemies are cowards, but they have determination. They want to destroy us,” President Emmanuel Macron told leaders from Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad – the so-called G5-Sahel countries – in the Malian capital Bamako.

The new regional anti-terror force is set to include as many as 5,000 soldiers, with one battalion from each of the G5 countries.

Macron said France would contribute more than 8 million Euros in military support this year.

He mentioned a contribution of 70 vehicles, without saying whether that was included in the sum.

The president also announced 200 million Euros in French development aid to the Sahel region over the next five years.

The European Union has also pledged 50 million Euros toward  the new force.

France is seeking additional financing from partners including Germany and the U.S.

The new force has been approved by the UN Security Council.

“ It will operate alongside the Barkhane, a 4,000-strong French anti-terrorism force in the region  and the MINUSMA, a UN mission in Mali.

“The common force of the G5-Sahel does not replace the Barkhane or the MINUSMA. It comes to support other forces,’’ Macron said.

The fight against terrorism is expected to focus on the border area between Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where attacks against military barracks have occurred recently.

A French military intervention in January 2013 turned back a jihadist and separatist insurgency in Mali’s north, but various Islamist groups still stage attacks.

The summit was expected  to revive a peace process launched in 2015, which is progressing slower than expected, according to diplomatic sources.

(Source: dpa/NAN)

Civil War: CIA Reveals Real Reason France Supported Biafra

The real reason France supported Biafra during the 1967-1970 civil war has been revealed.

The revelation was made in a war-time memos compiled by the US Central Investigation Agency, CIA.

In the compilation, French Secretary General for African and Malagasy Affairs, Jean Mauricheau-Beaupre was quoted as saying that French’s support to Biafra as it fought to break away from Nigeria was not in defence of its secession cause even though it had a humanitarian appeal.

He said the European country’s support was due to the desire to have access to the region’s oil.

He said, “France supported Biafra because of the oil and ERAP, but not the Ibo revolution,” referring to Emergency Response Action Plan, ERAP.

Mauricheau-Beaupre was further quoted in the memo as saying French support was merely given to a “handful of Biafra bourgeoisie in return for oil.”

As the hope of Biafra breaking away increasingly seemed lost, he ruled out the possibility of a guerilla war in the region, saying there was no popular support in the region.

He added, “The real Ibo mentality is much farther to the left than that of Ojukwu and even if we had won, there would have been the problem of keeping him in power in the face of leftist infiltration,” referring to the Biafran warlord, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu.

During the 3-year-old war, nations that supported Biafra openly were, France, Gabon, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.

By John Owen Nwachukwu

 

Zidane To Coach France In The Future – FFF President

French Football Federation (FFF) president, Noel Le Graet, says he expects Zinedine Zidane to coach France in the future, describing it as a “logical continuation”.

Zidane has made a seamless transition from player to coach, leading Real Madrid to Champions League and La Liga glory in 2016/2017, having also sealed European glory in his maiden campaign.

The former France captain, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 as he amassed 108 international caps, is now seen as a future coach of the national team.

“That is a logical continuation,” Le Graet told RMC radio.

“It is likely that one day he will be interested.

“For the moment I think he still has a lot to give to Real and the club suits him perfectly.

“I can’t believe what he is doing. I spoke to him two or three years ago, and at the time I was strongly advising him to go to Bordeaux or somewhere else, to start his career at a Ligue 1 club or somewhere more modest.”

By Ifreke Inyang