(Paris) The soldiers of the anti-jihadist operation in the Sahel Barkhane would have tried to use the French journalist Olivier Dubois without his knowledge to try to locate a jihadist leader, without preventing his kidnapping in Mali in 2021, says an investigation carried out by several media French.
The French force Barkhane was informed of the French journalist’s plan to meet a jihadist leader affiliated with Al-Qaeda in northern Mali, via a fixer serving as an indicator for the armies. The military considered using this appointment to locate this emir before giving up because of the risks involved, according to The worldwho conducted the investigation with ReleaseRFI and TV5Monde.
Released last March, Olivier Dubois was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Gao, in northern Mali, by GSIM, the main jihadist alliance in the Sahel linked to Al-Qaeda. He collaborated in particular with the daily newspaper Release and the magazine Point and lived in Mali since 2015.
According to the French media having had access to French and Malian court documents relating to the case, Barkhane’s soldiers would have given up in extremis to the operation, but would not have deployed the appropriate means to prevent the kidnapping of Olivier Dubois in Gao, where he was to meet Abdallah Ag Albakaye.
Responsible for investigating this case internally, the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces (IGA) concluded at the end of 2021 that there had been “no personal fault within the Barkhane force”, but that “the sensitivity of the subject has not been taken into account at a sufficient level to lead […] dissuasive action against the journalist”.
Contacted by AFP, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused any comment “because of the judicial investigation” in progress. The staff declined to comment.
From a diplomatic source, we recall that a “red letter” – for strongly discouraged – had been sent to Olivier Dubois the day before his kidnapping to dissuade him from making this trip.
The newspaper Release had for his part refused the interview project of Olivier Dubois because of the risks involved.