Malian protests against Algeria
Mali was quick to react to what was seen in Bamako as an unfriendly gesture towards the Malian Republic.
- Press release issued by the Information and Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mali
- Interference in Mali's internal affairs
The Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned the Algerian ambassador to Bamako on Wednesday 20 December "to express the strong protest of the Government of the Republic of Mali, following the recent unfriendly acts of the Algerian authorities, under the pretext of the peace process in Mali".
Press release issued by the Information and Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mali
According to a press release issued by the Information and Press Office of the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "the minister stressed that the recurrent meetings, at the highest level in Algeria, and without the slightest information or involvement of the Malian authorities, on the one hand with people known for their hostility to the Malian government, and on the other hand with certain movements that signed the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement in Mali, resulting from the Algiers process, who have chosen the side of the terrorists, could tarnish the good relations between the two countries".
It should be noted that Imam Mahmoud Dicko was received alone in El-Mouradia, even though he was in the presence of the President of the Algerian Republic, his chief of staff, his adviser in charge of religious affairs and relations with the Zaouïas, and above all in the presence of the Director General of Documentation and External Security, Major General Mehenna Djebbar.
Djebbar's presence at the hearing was a clear indication that the action was being carried out by an intelligence structure that had nothing to do with diplomacy. Hence the interpretation of interference in Mali's internal affairs.
Interference in Mali's internal affairs
This is what emerges from the Malian Foreign Ministry's communiqué, according to which the Algerian ambassador in Bamako was "strongly" informed that "these acts constitute interference in Mali's internal affairs". In conclusion, the Malian minister "invited the Algerian side to favour the path of dialogue with the Malian authorities, who alone are entitled to engage in state-to-state exchanges with Mali's partners".
The audience granted by President Tebboune to the Malian imam, widely reported in the media, reveals the amateurism of the Algerian president's new advisors in the field of diplomacy. Never before has an audience granted by a head of state to a foreign personality in the presence of an intelligence chief been covered by the media. Food for thought.
