Mali has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in order to address what it refers to as “acts of aggression” by France, including invasions of its sovereignty, funding of jihadist organizations, and espionage.
A letter submitted to the Chinese chair of the Security Council by Abdoulaye Diop, chief of diplomacy, was given to press by the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
According to the UN Charter, Mali “reserves the right to exercise self-defense” if French operations continue, the minister said.
The letter is dated August 15, which coincides with the last French soldier’s departure from Mali after nine years of fighting Islamists.
Since the putsch in August 2020, the junta in Mali has turned its back on France and its allies and toward Russia.
In the letter, Mr. Diop criticized France for its “repeated and frequent violations” of the country’s airspace, as well as for its use of planes in “activities deemed to be espionage” and “intimidation” tactics.
According to the text, the Malian authorities have “several pieces of proof” that France utilized these brazen violations of Malian airspace to gather information from terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel and drop weapons and ammunition to them.
The French authorities have not yet addressed these allegations.
