
-
Alcaraz to face Italy's Musetti in Monte Carlo final
-
Newcastle boss Howe admitted to hospital
-
US exempts tech imports in tariff step back
-
US in hurry for nuclear deal, Iran says after high-stakes talks
-
Masters winner to get $4.2 mn from $21 mn purse
-
De Bruyne leads Man City comeback, Forest beaten by Everton
-
Record-breaker Penaud fires Bordeaux-Begles into Champions Cup semis
-
Almeida claims Tour of the Basque Country with stage six triumph
-
Israel seizes key Gaza corridor, expanding offensive
-
Toll hits 225, Dominican officials say all bodies returned to loved ones
-
Leverkusen title hopes take hit in Union stalemate
-
Ferrand-Prevot wins sensational women's Paris-Roubaix on debut
-
De Bruyne targets Champions League place before Man City farewell
-
Rose leads stacked leaderboard heading into Masters third round
-
Ferrand-Prevot wins sensational Paris-Roubaix women's debut
-
US, Iran hold 'constructive' nuclear talks in Oman
-
Bordeaux-Begles' Penaud breaks Champions Cup single season try record
-
Pogacar 'here to go for it' in Paris-Roubaix debut
-
Real Madrid need to plug defensive leaks: Ancelotti
-
Markram, Pooran lead Lucknow to IPL win over Gujarat
-
First US-Iran nuclear talks in years take place in Oman
-
Boulard double takes Women's Six Nations contenders France past Wales
-
Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 in Bahrain final practice
-
Alcaraz beats Davidovich Fokina to reach first Monte Carlo final
-
De Bruyne inspires Man City revival to crush Palace
-
Israel seizes key Gaza corridor, to expand offensive
-
UK lawmakers hold emergency debate to save British Steel
-
Warnings issued, flights cancelled as strong winds whip north China
-
End of the line for Hong Kong's Democratic Party
-
Israel takes control of key Gaza corridor, to expand offensive
-
First US-Iran nuclear talks in years start in Oman
-
Asian football chief fears 'chaos' if 2030 World Cup expands to 64 teams
-
UK lawmakers begin emergency debate to save British Steel
-
Accord reached 'in principle' over tackling future pandemics: negotiating body
-
Hamas expects 'real progress' in Cairo talks to end Gaza war
-
Lady Gaga brings mayhem to the desert on Coachella day one
-
UN warns US aid cuts threaten millions of Afghans with famine
-
Japan PM warns of divided world at futuristic World Expo opening ceremony
-
Junta chief frontrunner as Gabon holds first election since 2023 coup
-
Iran delegation in Oman for high-stakes nuclear talks with US
-
Australia beat Colombia to end BJK Cup bid on winning note
-
German refinery's plight prompts calls for return of Russian oil
-
Trump carves up world and international order with it
-
Paris theatre soul-searching after allegations of sexual abuse
-
US, Iran to hold high-stakes nuclear talks
-
Frustrated families await news days after 222 killed in Dominican club disaster
-
Jokic triple double as Denver fight back for big win
-
Trump envoy suggests allied zones of control in Ukraine
-
Iraqi markets a haven for pedlars escaping Iran's economic woes
-
Chinese manufacturers in fighting spirits despite scrapped US orders

Macron warns of 'predatory' Russian mercenaries in Mali
While announcing on Thursday that France would withdraw its troops from Mali, President Emmanuel Macron made his strongest condemnation yet of the shadowy Russian mercenary group Wagner whose alleged arrival in West Africa has infuriated Paris.
The French leader made clear that a suspected deal between the Malian military regime and Wagner was a crucial factor in pushing Paris to withdraw its 2,400 troops after a nine-year deployment against local jihadist groups.
Macron said that Wagner was "arriving in Mali with predatory intentions, but why?"
"Because the junta which is in power after two coups d'etats considers them to be the best partners they can find to protect their power, not to fight against terrorism," Macron said.
He said Wagner was previously guilty of "taking resources that should belong to the Libyan people" after their deployment in Libya and had also been responsible for "awful abuses against the civilian population" in the Central African Republic.
In Mali, they were "essentially there to secure their own business interests and protect the junta itself," Macron added, calling on Mali's leaders to explain how they were paying the secretive organisation reportedly founded by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Stephen Townsend, head of the US Africa command, said earlier this month that he believed Mali was paying Wagner $10 million a month, partly in gold and gemstones.
Mali's military rulers, who seized power in 2020, have always denied any such deal, but Macron said that the Russian group had deployed "around 800" fighters in the landlocked country that is home to growing al-Qaeda and Islamic State-aligned groups.
UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday that Wagner was "effectively in bed with the junta."
- Russian denials -
Mali's leaders admit to having relations with the Russian state, which they say has provided military trainers.
Mali was "only involved in a state-to-state partnership with the Russian Federation, its historical partner", according to a statement from the government in Bamako at the end of December.
The regime has also stressed that they were left with no choice but to look for new security partners after Macron announced in 2021 that France would be drawing down its forces in the Sahel region.
Malia's interim Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga accused Paris of a "sort of abandonment" at the UN general assembly in September last year.
Western officials have claimed for months that Russian transport planes have been spotted delivering Wagner fighters and arms, as well as Russian geologists known for their association with the group.
Russian President Vladmir Putin denies any link with Wagner despite Western suspicions that it is a Trojan Horse used to advance Moscow's interests, including in Ukraine.
"The Russian Federation has nothing to do with private military organisations that are operating in Mali," Putin told a press conference with Macron in Moscow on February 7.
- Abuses -
The existence of Wagner is hard to pin down, with investigators unable to find formal traces such as company registration, tax returns or an organisational chart.
When the EU wanted to sanction it in 2020 for "serious human rights abuses", it targeted Prigozhin, an oligarch nicknamed "Putin's chef" because his company once catered for the Kremlin.
Jason Blazakis from the New York-based Soufan Group think-tank said that Wagner was following in the footsteps of other mercenary operators in Africa, notably South Africans.
"The Wagner folks are walking through a door that has long been open to their ilk," he added.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank in Washington, has found evidence since 2016 of Russian soldiers of fortune in more than a dozen countries including Sudan, Madagascar, Botswana, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Macron had previously condemned Wagner's role in the Central African Republic (CAR), saying last May that it was exploiting mines and that CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera was now a "hostage".
UN chief Antonio Guterres this week denounced "human rights abuses" by CAR's army and its foreign supporters, an allusion to Wagner.
Djallil Lounnas, a researcher at Morocco's Al Akhawayn university, said that part of the appeal of Wagner is that there is less concern about the scrutiny that comes with working for Western partners.
"Russia has its interests. It doesn't ask questions," he told AFP.
But Wagner's results do not always measure up to the hopes invested in them.
In Libya, its mercenaries are thought to have suffered heavy losses while working for warlord Khalifa Haftar during his unsuccessful attempt to conquer the capital Tripoli.
And in Mozambique, they retreated in the face jihadists linked to the Islamic State.
W.Stewart--AT