Morocco and Mali Will the military coup threaten the friendship between the two countries?

CAN 2021: the Lions of Teranga rewarded by the Senegalese State

On Tuesday, during an official ceremony in Dakar, the Senegalese players and their staff received the National Order of Lions, one of the country's highest honors. But not only that, they also benefited from a bonus of around 75,000 euros and plots of land in Dakar and Diamniadio. A gesture from the State for service rendered.

"We dreamed of the cup, you built this dream and you achieved it. Finally here is the African Cup of Nations football among us. You have made us proud by making the name of Senegal resonate in the four corners of the planet. You have honored the nation, in return, the nation of which you are so proud owes you honors," said Macky Sall, the Senegalese president.

The country had been running for ages indeed, behind this continental star. Mission accomplished since Sunday.

"Now, instead of the heart, we all have a stamped map of Senegal, a people, a goal, a faith and of course a star enthroned above that of African champions. We are being killed, but we are not does not dishonor us, this was our slogan throughout the competition." Kalidou Koulibaly, captain of the Teranga lions.

Senegal therefore continues to celebrate its champions. Lions expected shortly on a new front, qualification for the World Cup in Qatar. They will meet the pharaohs of Egypt at the end of March.

Morocco and Mali Will the military coup threaten the friendship between the two countries?

Some believe that the coup could turn Mali into an international proxy war scene between the United States and France on one side and Russia on the other, and a regional battlefield between Morocco on the one hand and Algeria on the other.

Morocco and Mali have a strong historical relationship, spanning many centuries. This relationship extended to this era in which Mali is witnessing coups and major security disturbances, not only threatening the stability of Mali and West African countries, but the neighboring countries, one of which is Morocco, which views that region as an extension problems and solutions together.

The observer can see this Moroccan interest in the financial issue since the outbreak of the security turmoil that preceded the military coup that occurred in 2020, that is, when King Mohammed VI tried to mediate between the parties to the conflict in Mali in order to spare Mali the scourge of the military coup. But the reality has dragged Mali into a state of security instability due to the successive coups and security disturbances within it, which made Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita urges the need to cooperate with international organizations to restore peace and stability to Mali.

Moroccan investment in Mali

Morocco has accumulated many years of political, economic and security gains in Mali, and the visit of King Mohammed VI to Bamako in 2013 and 2014, in which the two parties signed 17 agreements in various sectors, is a vivid example of the strength of the relationship between Mali and Morocco in the pre-coup era. This relationship made Mali the destination The third is Moroccan investment in Africa and made Mali the second beneficiary of Moroccan training grants on the continent.

However, the coup led by Colonel Asmi Guetta in August 2020 against President Ibrahim Keita Boubacar, who ruled the country for seven years, complicated the scene for Mali and its partners, led by Morocco in Africa, especially as it accumulated great efforts with Mali for what Mali represents to Morocco in geopolitics and security. One of these security investments that Morocco has sought with Mali is the agreement to establish a joint border security training facility, which was planned to be established in Morocco to include a group of countries, one of which is Mali, to combat terrorism.

Here we must point out that the rebellion in Mali is not new, as Mali witnessed a scenario similar to what is happening today, and that was in 2012 when it witnessed unrest that ended in a coup, and in this regard Morocco quickly joined the intervention led by France in Mali, As a result of this intervention carried out by Morocco, Morocco advanced over its Algerian counterpart in the geopolitical positioning processes in the region, especially in the absence of the Algerian side, which was not involved in the financial file at the time, despite the existence of extended borders between the two countries, and despite what these borders posed for its internal security, especially during the civil war era in Algeria, and the reason for the Algerian non-interference at the time was due to the presence of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the pyramid of the Algerian power.

This intervention later paved the way for Morocco to consolidate its relations with the civilian forces in Mali later. Morocco has expanded the size of its initiatives towards Mali, by offering scholarships for Islamic studies in Moroccan universities for Malian students. The purpose of these grants is to dry up the sources of religious extremism that may appear in the Sahel regions, and as an attempt to transfer its religious model, Morocco and Mali signed in September 2013, Agreement to bring 500 imams from Mali to Morocco for religious training.

In addition to the security and religious agreements with Mali, Morocco sought to strengthen its economic relations with its southern neighbors, and established branches of its banks in Mali and Senegal. Attijariwafa bank (a Moroccan bank) acquired more than 50 percent of the shares of the International Bank of Mali.

Maroc Telecom also bought telecom companies in Mali and Niger, and the Sherif Phosphate Office, a Moroccan company, has intensified its investments to explore phosphates in eastern Mali, as well as its projects to enhance food security in Mali. Mali also has natural resources such as gold, uranium, iron ore, and possibly Diamonds, Morocco was seeking investment in order to extract them.

This was the situation between Morocco and Mali before the recent events in Mali of successive coups. These coups were condemned by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and imposed sanctions on Mali, especially after Gota launched a second coup in May 2021 to overthrow the interim civilian government. And declaring himself interim president and proposing to hold elections in 2025, according to this new organization, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mali, including border closures, trade embargoes, and asset freezes in the central bank of West African countries, which are sanctions supported by France, the United States and the European Union, targeting the economy Poor money.

However, these sanctions imposed by ECOWAS had a limited effect, as this organization, which Morocco had previously sought to join, was unable to curb the expansion of the force of the military coup in Mali. But what is new in Mali at the international level, which made everything that Morocco accumulated with Mali threatened to disappear?

The Russians are on the front line

The truth is that what has made the situation complicated for Morocco and its Western partners in Mali recently, is the help of the putschists by the Russians; Some report indicates that there are currently more than 600 Russian militants in Mali, who belong to the Wagner Group. The military junta in Mali resulting from the coup only confirms the presence of "Russian trainers" in Mali, but according to the western side, Russia is present with approximately 600 armed fighters. Bamako, these Russian fighters operate mainly in the center of the country.

If we have referred in the article to Morocco’s endeavors to explore for minerals, it is also worth noting here the development of mineral exploration operations led by Russia, as at least two sites in southern Mali in Sikasso and Kai, and another in the north in the town of Dogon, underwent mineral exploration operations.

The Russian presence in Mali has implications for the 13,000 military blue helmets of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Russia's presence in the Security Council and its recent strong involvement in Mali will limit the strength of these forces deployed in Mali in the name of the United Nations.

This Russian expansion in Mali, which was followed by a reduction in French and Western influence, may return Algeria to play a greater role, due to the strong relationship that unites Algeria with Russia, this relationship reinforced by the volume of military exchanges between the two countries, as 67% of Algerian foreign arms purchases, according to The International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) comes mainly from Russia, not to mention the presence of what is known as "Rossophilia".(i.e. loyalty to Russia) within the leadership of the Algerian army, which can be seen in the biographies of a group of leaders such as the current Chief of Staff Said Chanegriha, who was trained in the seventies of the last century at the Russian Military Academy Voroshilov, this matter can be employed in Mali, especially for what links Algeria from A strong relationship with the military regime inside it, which may make us in the near future witness a financial transformation into an international proxy war scene between the United States and France on the one hand and Russia on the other, and a regional one between Morocco on the one hand and Algeria on the other.(Osman Amkor trt arabic)

Human Rights Watch warns of a dangerous escalation of exceptional measures in Tunisia

Human Rights Watch said that the Tunisian authorities are using house arrest under the pretext of a state of emergency in a dangerous escalation around the imposition of exceptional measures, noting that the exceptional measures allowed by the emergency decree are abused and there is no judicial oversight over them.

Human Rights Watch warned, on Wednesday, of a "dangerous escalation" in the imposition of exceptional measures in Tunisia.

According to a statement by the organization (non-governmental, based in New York), "the Tunisian authorities are using (house arrest) under the pretext of a state of emergency, in a dangerous escalation around the imposition of exceptional measures."

In turn, Salsabil Chellali, director of Human Rights Watch in Tunisia, said that "failing to disclose where a person is being held is a worrying step towards a lawless country, and can never be justified by the state of emergency that has been repeatedly extended since 2015".

Chelali called on the Tunisian authorities to "immediately end arbitrary arrests and allow the use of legal procedures against them. These violations undermine the authority of the judicial system and further fragment the principles of the rule of law."

She added: "The exceptional measures provided by the emergency decree are being misused and there is no judicial oversight over them, which makes the specter of secret detentions loom over (Vice-President of the Ennahda Movement) Noureddine El-Beheiry and Fathi El-Baladi," according to the same statement.

It was not possible to obtain a comment from the Tunisian authorities regarding the international organization’s statement, but President Kais Saied repeatedly said that he “does not intend to establish a dictatorial regime or harm rights and freedoms, but rather aims to reform the situation after ascertaining the existence of an imminent danger threatening the state,” as he put it.

On December 31, the Ennahda Movement announced the kidnapping of Al-Buhairi by security men in civilian clothes, before he was taken to the hospital on January 3 last, after his health deteriorated as a result of his hunger strike in refusal to arrest him.

On January 3, the Tunisian Minister of Interior, Tawfiq Sharaf El-Din, announced that Al-Buhairi and the former official in the Ministry of Interior, Fathi Al-Baldi, had been placed under house arrest on charges related to “suspicion of terrorism” related to the “illegal” extraction of travel and nationality documents, which is what His defense team and Al-Nahda denied it, considering the accusation to be "politically motivated."