France

Common Christophe Gomart was accountable for the Directorate of Army Intelligence between August 2013 and Might 2017. Previous to that, he commanded Particular Operations from August 2011 to June 2013. He was among the many architects of the recapture. from northern Mali in 2013 and earlier than the French intervention in Libya in 2011. Retired from the French military, he now publishes his army memoirs…

Five days after the release of Soumaïla Cissé, Sophie Pétronin and two Italian hostages of the Islamist and Muslim support group linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, in exchange for jihadist fighters, there are still many questions surrounding this exchange. We know a little more every day about released jihadists in return for the four hostages. We now know their number. Having long cautiously claimed that there were several dozen, we now know with certainty that they were more than 200. Two hundred and six is…

Four days after the release of Sophie Pétronin, Soumaila Cissé and the two Italian hostages, the gray areas are still numerous. France assures it in any case: its role in this affair was only secondary. "The operation was carried out by the Malians, the terms of the negotiations were not carried out by France". This is the message conveyed by the Elysée while the conditions for the release of Sophie Pétronin raise questions. If the two countries' external services have worked together, it is Bamako who has kept control…

After moments of joy and effusion, following the release late last week in Mali of the three Western hostages and opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé, the continent's press is focusing on the underside of transactions on Monday. How many jihadists have been freed in exchange for hostages? Impossible to have an exact number. We're talking about 200 warriors. What is certain is that some of them met last Friday to celebrate their release. "The elements of GSIM, the support group for Islam and Muslims, wereted no time in…

After many years of criticism, mixed martial arts (MMA) has finally found a place in France. The practice of MMA, approved since February 2020 on French soil, has just experienced a leap forward with the possession of the Bellator 248 at the Accor Arena - Paris Bercy, on Saturday 10 October. An evening marked with a milestone for this sport.…

Available! Finally free! Soumaïla Cissé, Sophie Pétronin and the other hostages are reunited with their families. Also the senior figures from the IBK regime who were arrested during the coup regain freedom while the Malays regain a government and Mali, its rights and powers within ECOWAS. Can we therefore consider that everything is in order and that this country can now resume a normal life?No alas! No! But before we…

"Behind the scenes of a liberation". It is a title that we find at the same time on the front page of Le Figaro and on the front page of Liberation exactly when Le Monde prefers to show "the end of the ordeal for Sophie Pétronin". Because, of course, the newspapers are returning to the release of this 75-year-old French humanitarian, Thursday night after nearly four years of captivity in Mali. A liberation, yes, and "a lot of questions" according to Le Parisien Today in France. The first of them on Emmanuel Macron's…

The release on Thursday night of the four hostages in Mali, Soumaïla Cissé, Sophie Pétronin and the two Italians, Nicola Chiacchio and father Pier Luigi Maccalli, came after long and difficult negotiations with a long uncertain outcome. A ransom would have been paid and many jihadists were released by the Malian authorities. A look back at what we know about the negotiations and the compensation required. with our correspondent in Bamako, On April 5, a few days after the kidnapping of Soumaïla Cissé, the then Prime…

The plane with ex-hostages Sophie Pétronin has just landed at Villacoublay airport near Paris. The flight had started a few hours earlier from Bamako, Mali. Franco-Suisse spent almost four years in captivity in the Sahel. She was greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron. With our special envoys to Villacoublay, Marine from…

Sophie Pétronin, a French aid worker who was the last French hostage in the world, landed in the capital Bamako to have an emotional reunion with her son after being released along with a top Malian politician. Mali announced the release of Frenchwoman Sophie Pétronin, 75, and Malian politician Soumaïla Cisséon on Thursday along…