Mali's junta leader General Assimi Goïta has pardoned a French intelligence agent serving a 20-year prison sentence, a rare conciliatory move after years of strained relations between the west African nation and its former colonial ruler.
The move comes as Mali's military authorities struggle to contain a renewed offensive by jihadist and separatist groups.
The French agent, identified as Yann Vézilier, was arrested in August last year alongside several Malian officers who were allegedly planning a coup.
Accused by Mali of espionage and undermining state security, Vézilier spent nearly 10 months in detention in Bamako before standing trial. France has repeatedly rejected the allegations as "baseless".
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Diplomatic fallout
France's foreign ministry said the agent was "carrying out a security cooperation mission, and at no point did France participate, directly or indirectly, in the destabilisation of Mali".
Following the arrest, France suspended counter-terrorism cooperation with Mali and expelled two Malian diplomats.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Thursday, Mali said the pardon "does not call into question the facts established by an adversarial judgment rendered during trial".
The statement added that there would be "immediate removal of the individual from national territory".
The sentencing of the French agent in June further damaged relations between France and Mali, where the military has been in power since coups in 2020 and 2021.
Goïta's decision to release the agent demonstrated his "commitment to peace and dialogue, as well as to the ancestral values of forgiveness, hospitality and magnanimity that characterise our culture", the statement said.
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Unresolved case
The Malian officers arrested alongside Vézilier have not yet gone on trial. They are accused of creating an espionage and conspiracy network aimed at destabilising the government and carrying out a coup.
The government also referred to a "brotherly country" whose "good offices, exercised discreetly and with scrupulous respect for Mali's sovereignty, contributed to securing this pardon".
A Malian military source interviewed by French newspaper Le Monde said Morocco, which maintains good relations with both France and Mali, reportedly played a role.
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Security pressure
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Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012 involving groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as criminal gangs and separatist movements.
Since April, the country has seen a series of attacks by a coalition of Tuareg separatists from the Front de libération de l'Azawad (Azawad Liberation Front, FLA) and jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).
The attacks led to the death of Mali's defence minister, the capture of the northern city of Kidal and the brief seizure of the town of Anefis.
In recent years, Mali has moved away from France in its fight against insurgents and strengthened military and political ties with Russia. France withdrew its 2,400 troops from Mali in 2022 as relations deteriorated.
On Thursday, the Malian army announced the release of 82 soldiers held since April by JNIM and the FLA.
A foreign ministry source told AFP that Algeria helped secure their release.
Mali and Algeria began easing tensions in July. Despite a dispute that had lasted more than a year, the two countries announced the return of ambassadors and the reopening of their airspace to each other.
(with AFP)
