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Johannesburg:
Residents of Mali’s fabled town of Timbuktu
welcomed French President Francois Holland as a hero and liberator on Saturday,
after French forces helped Malian soldiers drive back Islamist rebels from the
northern town.
In South Africa, reaction
to France’s advance has been more muted, but just as positive, an unusual turn
for a country that has staunchly opposed foreign military intervention on the
continent and stuck to the African Union credo of “African solutions to African
problems.”
In 2011, President Jacob Zuma, addressing
events in Libya, said his government believed in the “rejection of any foreign
military intervention, whatever its form." His government also opposed
French military intervention in Ivory Coast's violent 2011 political crisis.
In the case of however, Zuma says “there was
no other alternative” to stop the advance of Islamists, because the Malian army
did not have the power to do so after members of Mali’s army led a March coup,
motivated in part by their complaint the government did not give them enough
support in the fight against Tuareg separatist rebels.
Zuma's response appears to be universal;
African Union Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zuma’s ex-wife, said the
continental body was “very grateful to France," a surprising statement
from a leader who has long been critical of the former colonial power.
Dlamini-Zuma has said she believes French
intervention ended her first bid for her current job.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela
says it is critical the Mali operation was asked for by African forces, not
France.
“South Africa has got no problems with the
assistance of countries like France to deal with the conflict in Mali,"
Monyela said. "In fact, we welcome it on the basis that there has been
consultation, but secondly that it is in response to a request by Africans for
this intervention.”
He described France’s 2011 intervention in
Ivory Coast — wherein South African officials had favored mediation over
military action — as more complicated and political, unlike the fairly
straightforward threat in Mali.
“There were a lot of dynamics which were
completely different from what you have in Mali, where you are essentially just
dealing with rebels who want to overthrow a sitting government," he said.
"In the African Union, we do not recognize unconstitutional changes of
government or force changes of government, particularly if you are overthrowing
a democratically elected government.”
Malians appear to largely support the action
against al-Qaida-linked rebels who have killed, mutilated and threatened
residents in their drive to impose strict Islamic law. The group has also
destroyed priceless historical artifacts in the ancient learning center of
Timbuktu.
South African Institute of International
Affairs analyst Tom Wheeler says Mali’s willingness to bring in the French was
crucial.
"The French had refused to go into the
Central African Republic in terms of Hollande’s policy of not interfering in
African affairs anymore, withdrawing from that sort of colonial mindset they
had," said Wheeler.
"In this case, it seemed to meet everybody’s
needs — certainly the Mali government, which is in a bit of a disarray, and the
army, which is not particularly well organized."
There has been only limited opposition to the
French intervention. Egypt’s new president opposed the idea, warning it could
create more regional conflict.
Analysts have said they are worried Mali’s
Islamist rebels will simply melt into the vast, inhospitable Sahara desert,
waiting for another chance to strike.
-VOA