He revealed, on the other hand, that th Malian military junta never asked for the withdrawal of the French troops, announced by Paris days ago, “We had a defense agreement and we learned about the decision from the press, the Cabinet head said, in the midst of the conflict that has been opposing Paris and Bemako for weeks.

Maiga went on to say, “All the places where Al Qaeda is, is because the French left them, it is a way of saying to Mali that they are leaving us in Al Qaeda’s hands.”

Al Qaeda is the Islamist network founded in the 1970s in Afghanistan by Osama bin Laden with logistical support and training from the British and US special services, one of whose commandos carried out the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in 2001.

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