Eurasia Press & News
France will stick to its timetable for withdrawing troops from Mali despite a resurgence in violence and the killing of two French journalists, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Tuesday.
France, which sent soldiers to its former colony in January to combat militants who had taken over large swathes of Mali, has already delayed by two months plans to reduce troop numbers from 3,200 to 1,000 by the end of the year.
Speaking on Radio France Internationale, Fabius said France had moved 150 soldiers from the south to Kidal, the northerly Tuareg rebel stronghold where instability has grown in recent months, and where the journalists were abducted.
“President (Hollande) immediately decided to strengthen our presence in Kidal, but that does not call into question the calendar and the reduction of French forces,” Fabius said.
Malian troops and a U.N. peacekeeping force will also be reinforced, he said.
France launched air strikes and sent troops into Mali in January to drive back advancing al Qaeda-linked rebels, fearing they could make Mali a base for attacks in other countries.
The Islamists scattered and a new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was elected in August.
