Sahel states recall envoys from Algeria

Power equations among countries and in regions change pretty fast especially when that country and that region is going through difficult times and through times of instability. This has been so in the cases of Burkina Faso, Male and Niger.

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All the three have gone through military coups, and there is a situation of civil war in each of them. Armed rebels face national armies. For a long time, Algeria had French troops stationed in the three countries, but after the coups, the French have been asked to withdraw their forces from the region. Burkina Faso, Male and Niger felt that the presence of French troops did not help much in curtailing the situation.

It is to be noted that these three countries and other in this part of Africa, south of the Sahara, have been Former French colonies. They are part of the Francophone countries. But as a former colonial power, France had carried too much historical baggage to be of any help in stabilising the political situation. The big unstated problem was the challenge posed by militant groups with a religious orientation, attacking minority groups and trying to impose authoritarian regimes.