Paris | Russia carried out a “capture of power” in the Central African Republic via the mercenaries of the Wagner force, declared Friday the head of the French diplomacy, considering on the other hand unlikely such a threat in the Sahel.
“In the Central African Republic, by Russian mercenaries, there is a form of capture of power, and in particular of military power, which we are fighting and which has led us to take measures to withdraw a certain number of our personnel. military, ”said Jean-Yves Le Drian on the BFM TV channel.
France has frozen its budgetary aid to the Central African Republic and suspended its military cooperation with this Central African State, which it considers “accomplice” to an anti-French campaign led by Russia.
“In the Central African Republic, the militias are there, they supervise the president (Faustin Archange) Touadéra and they use the beast in the wealth of the country”, accused the French Minister of Foreign Affairs.
However, the same phenomenon is not perceptible in the Sahel, according to Paris. “I do not believe that it is a danger”, noted Jean-Yves Le Drian, adding not to detect, “for the moment”, a “great penetration” Russian.
The concerns concern in particular Colonel Assimi Goïta, leader of the junta at the origin of a double putsch in recent months in Mali and trained in Russia.
“It is not because he was trained that some were trained in Moscow that they are now aligned with Moscow,” replied the head of French diplomacy.
France, on the other hand, denounces an anti-French campaign in the Sahel, in particular on social networks, fueled in part, according to it, by groups claiming to be from Russia.
“What is certain (..) is that the member countries of the G5 Sahel in particular, what is also called the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), are extremely vigilant about their desire for sovereignty and on the precautions they take with regard to third parties, ”continued the Minister.
In the Sahel, unlike the Central African Republic, “there are no diamonds, no natural resources on which we can finance the war effort”, also notes a diplomatic source.
France intervened from 2013 to 2016 (Operation Sangaris) in the Central African Republic to put an end to inter-community violence there.
Russia has operated since a remarkable entry into this former French “pre-square” by delivering weapons to the Central African Armed Forces (Faca) and by dispatching hundreds of paramilitaries.
The Central African Republic, a country of 4.5 million inhabitants classified among the poorest in the world, fell into violence and chaos in 2013, after the overthrow of President François Bozizé by the Séléka rebellion.
In this country where the state controls only a small part of the territory, armed groups compete for control of resources (diamonds, gold, cattle, etc.)
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