President Emmanuel Macron warned in comments published Sunday that France will pull its troops out of Mali if it lurches towards radical Islamism following the second coup in nine months.

France has around 5,100 troops in the region under its so-called Barkhane operation which spans five countries in the Sahel -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The mission, headquartered in Chad, was launched after France intervened to fend off a jihadist advance in Mali in 2013.

On Tuesday France and the European Union denounced an "unacceptable coup d'etat" after Mali's interim president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane were detained and stripped of their powers in what is being seen as the country's second coup in less than a year.

Macron said he had told Ndaw that France will withdraw its troops if Mali turns towards radical Islamism.

"Radical Islamism in Mali with our soldiers there? Never," he told the weekly newspaper The Journal du Dimanche.

"There is this temptation today in Mali. But if it goes in that direction, I will withdraw," he warned in comments made during a trip to Rwanda and South Africa. Macron flew home to Paris on Saturday.

The French president added that he had given a message to West African leaders that they could not back a country "where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition."

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has invited Mali's junta leader Colonel Assimi Goita to Ghana's capital Accra for "consultations" ahead of an extraordinary summit on Sunday devoted to Mali.

Goita flew to Accra on Saturday, military and airport sources said.

He had served as vice president since leading a coup last August that ousted the democratically elected president, with the roles of president and prime minister held by civilians after pressure from ECOWAS, which has served as a mediator.

However, the transitional leaders were detained Monday before being released on Thursday, with the military saying they had resigned.

The twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uproar and marked the second apparent coup within a year in the Sahel country.

Mali's constitutional court completed Goita's rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president.

With the junta going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges.

Macron, in his comments published Sunday, warned that if Africa's development fails then Europe "will pay dearly in terms of migration".

He stressed the need to "invest massively" adding that the international community must also erase some of the continent's debt burden "to help Africans build their future."

Russia insists CAfrica 'instructors' are unarmed
United Nations, United States (AFP) May 28, 2021 - Six hundred Russian soldiers requested by the Central African Republic this month are "unarmed instructors," Moscow's deputy ambassador to the United Nations said Friday.

"They are not armed because they are not supposed to be armed. They are instructors," Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters, adding that he did not know if the soldiers had already arrived.

Moscow has since 2018 maintained a contingent of soldiers to train the Central African army.

Prior to the latest contingent, Moscow had only acknowledged the presence of 535 Russian instructors in CAR, under contract with the Central African defense ministry.

CAR notified the UN Security Council on May 4 that it intended to welcome 600 new instructors. It is obliged to give 20 days' notice under the latest arms embargo on the country.

Diplomats say that France, Estonia, Ireland, Britain and the United States have put the sanctions committee's response on hold indefinitely in order to obtain more information.

But that does not prevent Russia from deploying the soldiers after the notice period expired on Monday, according to the diplomats.

"They might deal with some armaments when they instruct people but they are not supposed to fight," said Polyanskiy.

Numerous witnesses and NGOs say the instructors are in fact paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, a shadowy private military company that is actively participating in the fight against CAR rebels, alongside Rwandan special forces and UN peacekeepers.

French daily Le Monde claimed this week that Russia and CAR had stopped all military coordination with the peacekeepers since February.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN's under-secretary for peace operations, said UN peacekeepers had encountered difficulties with CAR's military and its partners, without giving further information.

"It is essential to have a certain consultation, a coordination," he said, adding that he would visit CAR next week.

The nation of 4.7 million has been gripped by civil war since a coalition of armed groups overthrew the government in 2013.

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Russia insists CAfrica 'instructors' are unarmed
United Nations, United States (AFP) May 28, 2021
Six hundred Russian soldiers requested by the Central African Republic this month are "unarmed instructors," Moscow's deputy ambassador to the United Nations said Friday. "They are not armed because they are not supposed to be armed. They are instructors," Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters, adding that he did not know if the soldiers had already arrived. Moscow has since 2018 maintained a contingent of soldiers to train the Central African army. Prior to the latest contingent, Moscow had only ... read more