France’s top soldier thanks Canada for help in Mali
U.S. to send more troops to Niger to boost intelligence gathering
OTTAWA — As European troops head to Mali to start training the African country’s controversial military on how to fight Islamist rebels, France’s top soldier said a Canadian contribution would be “helpful.”
Canadian military transport aircraft have helped move French troops and equipment into Mali for nearly two months to support France’s assault on al-Qaidalinked militants that had taken control of the northern half of the country.
In Ottawa on Friday ,French Chief of Defence Admiral Edouard Guillaud thanked Canada for the support it has provided his country, which he said has been essential to ending the immediate threat posed by the jihadists.
“Canada has been offering a lot by offering strategic airlift,” Guillaud told reporters. “In this respect, the help provided by Canada is very important and we’re very grateful for it. And I hope it lasts.”
With the militants scattered, he said France is proceeding to the second phase: handing control of the situation over to African forces, who are operating under the auspices of a UN Security Council mandate.
The third phase — training the Malian armed forces to eventually take responsibility for the country’s security on their own has also officially begun, Guillaud said, with the formation of a 15-month, 500-strong European Union training mission.
Guillaud said, given that Canada is a French-speaking country, any Canadian military contribution would be “helpful.”
“If the Canadian government makes such a decision, of course it would be most welcome,” he added. He would not say if France had asked Canada for more assistance.
So far, that doesn’t appear likely.
The Canadian military is also working with Nigerian armed forces in a pre-planned training exercise, while Canadian police officers are training counterparts in the region.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said Canada will not be involved in a direct military mission in Mali. And Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said last week that Canada won’t “get into another Afghanistan,” while there are also concerns about lending legitimacy to the Malian military after it took control in a coup last year.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s office said Friday there are no plans to increase Canada’s presence in Mali or the region.
In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama told Congress Friday he is boosting military personnel in Niger in an effort to increase intelligence gathering and force protection in the wake of increased militancy and terrorist activity in oilrich north Africa.
In a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Obama said he is deploying about 40 additional U.S. troops in Niger, bringing the number of U.S. personnel to “approximately 100.”
“This deployment will provide support for intelligence collection and will also facilitate intelligence sharing with French forces conducting operations in Mali, and with other partners in the region,” he said.
For several years, the U.S. has been seeking a friendly country in north Africa from where it can launch drones. Recently it signed an agreement with Niger that welcomes U.S. military personnel.
Obama said in his letter that he is increasing the deployment “in furtherance of U.S. national security interests.”
It is not known if this is just the beginning of a much larger U.S. deployment in a region of expanding oil and gas exploration and extraction.
The country borders on Mali, Algeria and Libya where Americans fear alQaida and other extreme Islamic factions are growing in strength. It also borders on Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer.
French troops and Mali government forces continued this week to battle jihadist forces in eastern Mali around Gao, who swept down from the north earlier last month.
France has about 4,000 troops in the country and says it will begin to withdraw some of them next month.
Canada sent C-17 transport planes in January to deliver French military equipment, including armoured vehicles. Canada also sent special forces to protect Canadian assets including embassy staff. The federal government has said they are not involved in any combat role.
Last month, suspected Islamic extremists attacked an oil and gas plant in Algeria, taking 32 hostages, 23 of whom were killed in a gun battle between the terrorists and Algerian forces.
Algerian pipelines have also recently come under attack.