Mali’s foreign minister accused former colonial power France on Tuesday of “duplicitous acts” of aggression and espionage aimed at destabilizing the troubled West African country — allegations immediately dismissed by France’s U.N. ambassador as “mendacious” and “defamatory.”
The acrimonious exchange at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Mali highlighted the depth to which relations between the two countries have plunged since a coup in August 2020 and the August 2022 departure of the last of thousands of French forces that had been in the country at the government’s invitation since 2013 to fight Islamic extremists.
Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop reiterated accusations the transitional government made in August that French aircraft “invaded” its airspace, and alleged that France was providing material to “criminal groups” that is destabilizing the civilian population.
He called for a special Security Council meeting “for us to bring to light evidence regarding duplicitous acts, acts
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