Threat to French interests
"Since the coup in Bamako against former Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure, in March 2012, and the takeover of northern Mali by jihadist groups and terrorists, Paris attempted, unsuccessfully, to mobilize the international community in favor of a military intervention led by African countries in the region, with the support of the West. French interests and French nationals have been explicitly targeted by terrorists of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for several years in the Sahel.
A legacy of the colonial past
"French presence in the region is a legacy of the colonial past: several thousand French nationals reside there. Eight of them were taken hostage in 2010. France also has significant economic interests in West Africa. The most strategic is uranium from Niger, mined by Areva, which supplies a third of EDF nuclear power plants. When, in the middle of last week, Islamist groups launched a major offensive in central Mali, threatening to descend to the capital, Bamako, Elysée ordered the army to take action to stop them, with the green light from Malian President Acting Dioncounda Traoré and Security Council of the UN."
What are the goals of the operation?
"The Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, initially mentioned three: stop the offensive of radical groups; prevent the total collapse of the institutions of Mali; and protect French and European nationals present on site"
Extracts from an article by THOMAS HOFNUNG in the French daily Libération January 13, 2013
for complete article (in French) please see
http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2013/01/13/mali-paris-appuie-ses-frappes_873769
